Pitching + Power + Perseverance = Record-Setting Run to Regionals

MAC Softball Championship — Miami won the MAC regular-season and tournament
titles in the same year for the first time ever

Before 2019, Miami's softball team had never won a MAC regular-season championship.

And then it happened.

And then it happened again…and again.

Before 2022, Miami's softball team had never won the Mid-American Conference regular-season championship and tournament championship in the same year.

Guess what? It happened.

Here's how.

- - -

A lot can change in 21 months.

As the 2020 regular season started, the defending MAC champion RedHawks were looking forward to an opportunity to repeat. But before conference play even began that spring, COVID hit and the remainder of the season was canceled.

If that wasn't enough adversity to deal with in one year, August 2020 brought a coaching change as coach Clarisa Crowell left to take over the Penn State program. Miami replaced Crowell with first-time head coach Kirin Kumar, then an assistant at Virginia Tech.

Although many student-athletes in the transfer portal era might have chosen to leave under those circumstances and look for other places to play, the Miami core stayed together to build on what they'd already started.

"Our team was really close-knit, and I think when she came in, we all bought in," said senior Allie Cummins. "We knew she had the experience and the knowledge; it was just a team decision to buy in and let her coach us the way that she wanted to so that we could interpret it the way we needed to for us to be successful."

It paid off. In her first two seasons at the helm, Kumar has led the RedHawks to an impressive 85-25-1 record, including back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.

"Realistically, I thought it was going to be extremely hard because I got the job during COVID, but the girls made the transition really easy," Kumar said. "I didn't have many expectations, but then what we did last year was an unbelievable season, so our expectations this year were really high…we proved what we can do."

Under Kumar, the Miami offense has exploded, taking a team that averaged 4.3 runs per game in 2019 and 3.3 in 2020 to a seven-run-per-game clip over the past two seasons.

That makes life a lot easier for the RedHawks' pair of star pitchers, a one-two punch that few other teams can match (or, as Kumar says, "I don't even know if it's 'one-two' or '1A-1B'!"): Courtney Vierstra and Brianna Pratt.

- - -

Ask senior hurlers Vierstra and Pratt about how nice it must be to have a record-setting offensive juggernaut to support them each time they step into the circle, and smiles light up their faces immediately as their responses come in perfect unison, almost before the question is even finished: "Oh, yeah."

Pratt said the RedHawks' prolific offensive attack has been a 'game-changer' in taking the pressure off. "Being able to come in and know that maybe we can give up a run or two and not lose a game, [we can] just go out there and focus on what we do best."

In some games, the offense takes longer to break out than in others. But when the Miami bats get hot, look out.

Karli Spaid — Spaid (7) is re-writing the record books in
just her second year as a RedHawk

The most striking example this season was an improbable comeback victory over California on April 23. Miami trailed 5-1 with one out in the final inning before ripping off four home runs, including a walk-off shot from Karli Spaid, to stun the Golden Bears 7-5.

Twelve different RedHawks have hit home runs this year, including five with double-digit totals, but no one else on the team has matched Spaid's clip. In fact, only one other player in the country has! The sophomore third baseman blasted her MAC-record 27th homer of the season Saturday, giving her 44 and counting for her career. (To put that production in perspective, the Miami career record for home runs by a single player before Spaid and Cummins arrived on campus was 30; Cummins has also already surpassed that number with 35 homers of her own.) Spaid currently leads the nation in total bases and the RedHawks rank third in the country in home runs as a team.

(Interesting side note: Kumar said the team doesn't even really talk about swinging for the fences. Their focus as a program is on hitting as many line-drive doubles as possible. "I think a lot of those doubles—because of the weight room—turned into home runs!")

Regardless, that type of game-changing slugging ability helps Pratt and Vierstra stay confident and relaxed in the circle, even on days when Miami batters get off to a slower start at the plate.

"Our pitching and defense keeps us in games," said Cummins. "It's just a matter of time until our hitting catches up!"

In last weekend's MAC Tournament, the RedHawks were deadlocked with Bowling Green at 0-0 in the fifth inning Thursday and trailed Central Michigan 1-0 in the sixth inning Friday before producing the needed runs to propel Miami into the title game.

MAC Softball Tournament — Vierstra (left) and Pratt (right) have formed a
remarkable '1A-1B' combo for Miami in the circle

Through it all, Pratt was fantastic, allowing one earned run in 19.2 innings en route to earning MVP honors. She got the start in all three MAC tourney games, improving her season record to 18-4, while Vierstra (17-9) was waiting in the dugout to encourage her fellow pitcher after each inning.

"Bri would come off the field, and I could just tell she was tense," Vierstra smiled. "I'd say, 'Bri, they're going to score for you. As long as you keep it up, they're going to score. I [just] don't know when!"

"Took some years off my life," Pratt joked.

Of course, by the time Miami reached Saturday's final, the outcome was basically decided in the RedHawks' first at-bat. The Red and White belted six home runs over the course of four innings on their way to an 11-0 run-rule victory that clinched not only a postseason trophy, but also a spot in the upcoming NCAA regionals, which begin Friday on the campus of Virginia Tech.

Yes, THAT Virginia Tech.

- - -

Storylines abound in Miami's second consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament.

Kumar hasn't been back to Blacksburg, Va. since she became the RedHawks' coach. Miami center fielder Kate Kobayashi also started her college career with the Hokies and Kumar before transferring after the 2020 season.

"I played at Virginia Tech with all those girls, so I'm excited to get to see them and be back," said Kobayashi. "It should be good being in a familiar environment."

There is plenty of familiarity, not only between some of the people involved, but also among the four programs in the double-elimination regional. Third-seeded Miami will face second-seeded Kentucky Friday at 4:30 p.m. in the teams' second meeting of the year; the RedHawks edged the Wildcats 7-5 in Oxford in March. On the other side of the bracket, fourth-seeded St. Francis (PA) will square off with host Virginia Tech. Miami dropped a neutral-field decision to the Hokies back in the second weekend of the season.

"You've got to go through all teams if you want to get to the top," said Kumar. "They know what we have and we're not going to surprise them."

Miami is looking for its first NCAA Tournament win since 2016, and after going 0-2 in the Lexington Regional last May, the RedHawks' experienced roster is ready for the challenge.

"It feels a little different, because we've been here before," said Kobayashi. "We have a really special team: We're going to go into this regional and it's not going to be anything new.

"We're used to this competition and we thrive in it."

- - -

"Regionals isn't the goal," Cummins said. "Super regionals is. For us, we're hoping to make regionals the standard."

Listen to anyone associated with the Miami softball program talk, and key words and repeated themes quickly rise to the surface.

Goals.

Expectations.

Standards.

Vierstra spoke at length about the championship habits that lead to sustained success like the RedHawks have enjoyed during her time in Oxford. Building relationships, working hard, and the list goes on: It's a special culture, and it's contagious.

"I think it's been really cool to watch the program set new precedents, new standards and new expectations for the program and our conference in general," Vierstra said.

That shows up on the field…in the record books…and, of course, in the trophy case. Miami hopes it leads to yet another record-setting run and the team's first-ever trip to the NCAA Super Regionals.

"Last year, we didn't have a conference tournament. We won the regular season and got the automatic bid," explained Kumar. "This year going in, we knew we had that little extra layer, so even though we won the regular season, we still had to go back and beat three teams that had beat us in the regular season.

"That was the goal: Be regular-season champion, win the tournament this year, get to regionals, and go past that.

"Each time, each year with the goals, we step it up, because it becomes an expectation."

With the pitching, power and perseverance that Miami Softball is known for, don't be surprised if the RedHawks not only meet their lofty expectations, but perhaps even surpass them.

In fact, they might just knock them out of the park.

Find more Front Row Features at MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures.

To support Miami Softball in Blacksburg, click here to purchase tickets for the NCAA Regional. To support Miami Softball with a financial gift to the program's Excellence Fund, click here to make a donation.

Pitching + Power + Perseverance = Record-Setting Run to Regionals

Players Mentioned

Allie Cummins

Kate Kobayashi

Brianna Pratt

Karli Spaid

Courtney Vierstra

Related Videos