MIAMI VS. NCAA REGIONAL FIELD: For the second straight season, the Miami softball team will be competing in the NCAA Tournament and facing off against some familiar opponents.

vs. Kentucky: 9-8 all-time (1-0 in 2022)
vs. Virginia Tech: 1-8 all-time (0-1 in 2022)
vs. St. Francis (Pa.): First Meeting

HAWKS AND THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: This weekend the Miami RedHawks make their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance, all coming in the last 18 years. Miami takes on Kentucky at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 20 on the first day of the Blacksburg Regional. The game will be aired on ESPN+. 

2021 – Lexington, Ky.
5/21 lost to Notre Dame, 3-2
5/22 lost to Northwestern, 7-1
 
2016 – Ann Arbor, Mich.
5/20 def. Notre Dame, 3-2
5/21 lost to Michigan, 6-0
5/21 lost to Notre Dame, 5-0
 
2012 – Knoxville, Tenn.
5/18 def. Tennessee, 1-0
5/19 lost to Virginia Tech, 6-0
5/19 lost to Tennessee, 8-0 (6)

2009 – Ann Arbor, Mich.
5/15 lost to Michigan, 11-3 (6)
5/16 def. Cleveland State, 5-4
5/16 lost to Notre Dame, 5-3
 
2005 – Knoxville, Tenn.
5/20 lost to Tennessee, 9-0 (5)
5/21 lost to Virginia Tech, 4-1
 
HAWKS AND KUMAR: Since the arrival of head coach Kirin Kumar, a former Virginia Tech assistant coach, the RedHawks have had unprecedented success. After a 46-10 (36-2 MAC) record in 2021 (Kumar's first year), the RedHawks wrapped up the 2022 campaign with a 39-15-1 record (24-5 MAC). The combined 85-25-1 (.766) overall and 60-7 (.896) MAC record is the best two-year stretch in program history.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING: After beginning the season 3-8, the RedHawks are 36-7-1 in their last 44 contests.

GRADUATING CHAMPIONS: Miami Athletics preaches "Graduating Champions," -- expecting its teams to graduate and win a championship during their time at Miami. The softball program has taken that to a whole new level. The last time a team other than Miami captured a softball regular season championship was back in 2018 and this current RedHawks program finished the fall semester (spring has yet to be announced) with a 3.45 GPA.

BOMBS AWAY: Miami ranks among the Top 10 in the nation in three offensive team statistical categories.
Home Runs Per Game (1.98, 4th)
Total Home Runs (109, 3rd)
Slugging Percentage (.597, 8th)
Miami is the first school in conference history to secure at least 100 home runs in a single season.

AMONG THE NATION'S BEST: Both Allie Cummins (35) and Karli Spaid (44) can be found throughout the NCAA Leaders and rank first and second all-time on Miami's career home run leaders.

Karli Spaid 
• Batting Average (.420, 21st)
• Home Runs (27, 2nd)
• Home Runs Per Game (.49, 4th)
• On-Base Percentage (.493, 50th)
• Runs Batted In (68, 3rd)
• Runs Scored Per Game (1.18, 5th)
• Slugging Percentage (.939, 15th)
• Total Bases (170, 1st)

Allie Cummins 
• Home Runs (15, 49th)
• Home Runs Per Game (.27, 49th)
• Total Bases (117, 41st)
• Walks Per Game (.58, 48th)

RANKING IS JUST A NUMBER: Coach Kumar and the RedHawks played arguably the toughest non-conference schedule in school history this season and hung with some of the biggest programs in the nation. The RedHawks are 6-6-1 this season versus teams ranked in the top-75 in RPI, including wins over No. 8 Kentucky and No. 16 Louisville. Miami also beat Michigan, South Carolina and California (twice).

OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION: Below are just a few offensive notes that are almost hard to imagine.

• Miami ranks 13th in the nation with 6.4 runs per game in 2022.
• The RedHawks are hitting .310 as a team this year and have nine batters hitting over .300, including two with a .400+ batting average.
• Six different hitters have at least 25 RBI and five RedHawks have 10-plus home runs this season (Lily Wilmot has nine).
• Eight different hitters have an on-base percentage north of .400.
• Miami has outscored its opponent 112-50 in the first two innings and 79-34 in the sixth and seventh innings combined.
• Miami has recorded double-digit hits in 22 contests this season and has at least one home run in all but 12 games this year.
• To start each inning, Miami's leadoff batters are hitting .451 on the season and with a runner at third, with less than two outs, Miami is hitting .625. The RedHawks are hitting .317 on the year with a runner in scoring position.
• The RedHawks have scored at least six runs in 33 contests this season and are 28-4-1 in those games.

ACE OF SPAID: Sophomore infielder Karli Spaid already owns several career school records and is on pace to claim many more. Spaid is already Miami's career home run leader with 44. Miami's all-time batting average leader, Halle Popson finished her career with a .351 batting average. Spaid enters the weekend with a .412 career batting average. She is second all-time with 117 career RBI and is third with 121 runs scored.

PITCHER PERFECT: It's not just about offense with the RedHawks in 2022. Courtney Vierstra enters the NCAA Tournament with a career 84-42 record and an ERA of 2.18. Her win total ranks second all-time at Miami and her 1,005 career strikeouts is 16 shy of the 1,021 set by Jessica Simpson.

All-MIAMI TEAM:  The Mid-American Conference announced its All-MAC teams last week, but maybe it should have been called the All-Miami Teams. Nine different RedHawks earn conference honors: Allie Cummins, Brianna Pratt, Karli Spaid and Courtney Vierstra were named first-team All-MAC, while Holly Blaska, Kate Kobayashi, Maggie Murphy (MAC Freshman of the Year) and Chloe Parks earned second-team all-conference accolades. Murphy, Parks and Shelby Kunkel were placed on the All-MAC Freshman Team as well.

MAC TOURNAMENT RECAP:  Miami went 3-0 over the weekend to capture the 2022 MAC Tournament. After opening the week with a 4-1 win over Bowling Green, the RedHawks captured a 2-1 victory in eight innings of play over Central Michigan and then dominated BGSU in the Championship game, picking up an 11-0 five-inning win. Brianna Pratt (MVP), Holly Blaska, Riley Coyne and Karli Spaid were named to the All-Tournament Team.

AROUND THE HORN:  Below are 1-2 tidbits for Miami's expected lineup.

Karli Spaid
• Prior to this season, Miami's previous all-time home run leader had 30 career dingers. Spaid has 27 this year alone.
• In 13 games versus teams ranked inside the top-75 in RPI, Spaid hit .405 with seven home runs and 13 RBI with an on-base percentage of .480.

Holly Blaska
• Had career-highs in home runs (12) and RBI (39) in 2022.
• First-team All-MAC in 2021 and second-team All-MAC in 2022.

Allie Cummins
• Has played in 131 career games at catcher and outfield
• Has a career .369 batting average, second-best in school history.

Maggie Murphy
• MAC Freshman of the Year.
• Versus top-75 RPI teams, Murphy hit .435 with three home runs and five RBI.

Kate Kobayashi
• Transferred from Virginia Tech.
• Had career-bests in home runs (12) and RBI (35) in 2022.

Riley Coyne
• Has 10 home runs in 83 at bats this year.
Went 3-for-7 with three home runs and seven RBI in the MAC Tournament.

Lily Wilmot
• Had a career-high .277 batting average and nine home runs in 2022.

Adriana Barlow
• Had 55 RBI in 2021, third-most in school history.
• Recorded a season-high two home runs in a 7-5 win over Cal.

Chloe Parks
• Freshman All-MAC Team//Second Team All-MAC in 2022.
• Committed just two errors all season from her second base position.

Courtney Vierstra
• Has 84 career wins and 1,005 strikeouts. Just 16 strikeouts from the all-time school record.
• Has three perfect games and four no-hitters in her career.

Brianna Pratt
• Has an .818 (18-4) winning percentage in 2022, second-best in school history.
• Went 3-0 with a .36 ERA in the MAC Tournament. She threw 19.2 innings, allowing just one earned run, while striking out 10. In all, she allowed 15 hits in the three games, but just one extra base hit over the weekend.