Everything But a Nickname: Inside the Best Miami Softball Season Ever

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The Miami University softball team has a problem.

The RedHawks have one of the best-hitting lineups in college softball – check that, in college softball history— but they're missing one crucial thing.

They need a nickname.

After all, the 1927 New York Yankees with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were 'Murderers' Row.' Miami walk-off win over Toledo at MAC Tournament

Miami walk-off win over Toledo at MAC Tournament

The Cincinnati Reds dynasty of the mid-'70s featuring Pete Rose, Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan was the 'Big Red Machine.'

So as Miami Softball heads into its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament this weekend to continue its assault on the program, conference and national record books, what catchphrase or label should the team adopt?

Take your time. We're open to suggestions.

But while you're thinking, let's recap just a few of the remarkable factoids, shall we?

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Miami has hit 159 home runs this year as a team and is averaging 2.89 home runs per game. The national record, held by the 2021 Oklahoma Sooners, is 161. 159 + 2.89x = You do the math.

(To attempt to put 2.89 home runs per game in perspective, how many Major League Baseball teams all-time have averaged even two homers per game for an entire season? The answer is…exactly zero. And Miami is playing seven –or fewer!— innings per contest, compared to nine for MLB.)

Karli Spaid owns 36 home runs this year, eight more than any other player in the country. The next-closest player with 28? Miami's Jenna Golembiewski. Spaid, Golembiewski, Kate Kobayashi (20 HRs) and Holly Blaska (19 HRs) all rank among the top 20 in the nation in that category.

Karli Spaid after hitting career homer #100

Karli Spaid after hitting career homer #100

Spaid needs one more homer to tie the national single-season record of 37, set by Arizona's Laura Espinoza nearly 30 years ago. Earlier this season, Spaid became the second college softball player ever to reach 100 career home runs.

Perhaps the most ridiculous stat about Miami's slugger-rich lineup? Before Spaid and company first stepped foot on campus, the program's CAREER individual home run record was 30. Read that again: No Miami Softball player had ever hit more than 30 homers over a four-year career.

Spaid has 36 (and counting) since February.

In fact, the RedHawks' record book for that career stat category now reads like a May 2024 lineup card: Karli Spaid 103, Allie Cummins 66, Holly Blaska 50, Jenna Golembiewski 46, Kate Kobayashi 42. In all, seven of the top eight home run hitters in the conference this spring wear the Red and White.

"You can't count anybody out," said Spaid. "In big situations, somebody's going to come through; you just never know who. Every time, it's somebody different, which is unbeatable!"

Of course, the group of seniors Miami honored on April 27 (Spaid, Cummins, Blaska, Kobayashi, Maddi Banks, Ashley Hitchcock, Addy Jarvis and Logan Mueller) is well-represented on nearly every other page in the record book too. Spaid, Cummins, Blaska and Kobayashi now comprise four of the top five all-time in career RBI, career runs AND career walks, with Spaid and Cummins ranking 1-2 in career batting average and hits. Oh, and the RedHawks do damage on the basepaths on the rare occasions they don't hit the ball over the fence: Spaid and Blaska are in the program's top three for all-time steals.

We could go on and on. At least one RedHawk home run in 51 of 55 games this year. 41 multi-homer games, including seven dingers in a five-inning contest against Central Michigan on April 20. 25 games of 10 or more runs en route to leading the country in scoring at a 9.15 clip (nearly a whole run ahead of the next-closest program, Oklahoma at 8.18). Eight First-Team All-MAC honorees this season, along with the Coach of the Year, Player of the Year, Freshman Pitcher of the Year and Freshman Player of the Year.

But the mind-boggling collection of numbers and accomplishments all adds up to the statistic that head coach Kirin Kumar and the back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back MAC Champions value the most: wins.

Miami enters the NCAA Tournament with a school-record 48 victories against only seven losses, including a perfect 42-0 mark when out-hitting its opponent. The Red and White posted a healthy .967 winning percentage against MAC teams this year (29-1 including last week's tournament). Most recently, the RedHawks have won 12 games in a row, the second double-digit win streak of the campaign (after setting a conference record earlier this season with 23 straight victories from March 9 to April 21). Coach Kirin Kumar at MAC Tournament

"I think they just are having fun. When you're having fun, you're playing loose. When you're playing loose, then that continues," Kumar said.

"The offense being No. 1 and No. 2 in several categories in the nation, with the schedule that we've played, is something I don't know that anyone could foresee. Freshmen in there, sophomores, juniors and then obviously the seniors have been in the [hitting] program for four years. So they've gotten better in learning their own swings and learning their teammates' swings.

"It's fun to see. It's fun to watch!"

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Anyone watching the RedHawks play can tell in a matter of minutes how much fun the team is having. It only takes one Miami home run to hear the chorus of chants echoing from the dugout.

"PAR-TY! PAR-TY! PAR-TY!"

Holly Blaska and head coach Kirin Kumar

"Kate kinda started that," Blaska laughed. "We tried it in the dugout one time, then we looked at 2K [Kumar] to see her reaction.

"She loved it, so we kept it going!"

From there, the team's patented celebration evolved a bit this March during a road trip to Oklahoma, when the RedHawks discovered a red 'Proceed to Party' T-shirt for sale at the Toby Keith-branded restaurant where they were eating.

"We saw it, and we were like, 'We NEED that!'", recounted Blaska. Since then, the shirt has become a staple, prominently waving near the front of the line of well-wishers as a home-run hitter triumphantly returns to the bench (and whoever's up next grabs the bat at home plate in search of back-to-back jacks).

Perhaps the most humorous of the team's 159 'Party! Party!' celebrations this season came in an April run-rule win over an Eastern Kentucky squad that had won 10 straight games and would finish the year 42-10.

Let's set the scene: Spaid, who has had the most opportunities of any RedHawk to fine-tune a post-homer ritual, is accustomed to exchanging high fives and receiving congratulatory slaps on the helmet before greeting whatever teammate is last in the line with a huge bear hug.

However, when she hit the 95th round-tripper of her career to move into a tie for second place on the all-time Division I list, there was no RedHawk standing at the end of the line awaiting her. Karli Spaid air hug

No teammate? No problem. Spaid didn't even hesitate.

With the trademark T-shirt in tow, she just laughingly gave herself an air hug and the party kept right on rolling.

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The 2024 Miami Softball season has been so successful that sometimes the players themselves can't even keep track of what record or accomplishment is on deck next.

That was the case for Kobayashi, who readily admitted she didn't realize the RedHawks could capture a fifth straight MAC regular-season crown during the home finale on April 27.

"Senior Day was amazing, but I had no idea we were going to clinch that day," Kobayashi smiled. "We won, and I was walking off the field already crying, because it was the last time I'd play on that field. It was a really special day, and my whole family was able to make it.

"And then I found out we won the MAC, so the tears just kept flowing!

"This senior group is really special and we've all gotten so close. They're all my best friends and sisters, and we're going to stay in touch forever. It's really special to have this many great leaders on and off the field."

Blaska not only had family members in attendance on that memorable afternoon in Oxford, but former professors as well. The graduate student from Champlin, Minn. will finish her time at Miami University with not one, but two degrees (as a whole, by the time this semester ends, the eight-member senior class will have earned five Bachelor's degrees, four Master's degrees and a graduate certificate from the institution).

"It's been awesome to have so much support academically and in softball as well," she said.

Allie Cummins rings

Ask Kumar what she'll remember most about the 2024 RedHawks, specifically the eight recognized on Senior Day, and the answer is not an entry in the record book, a milestone victory, a home run keepsake ball or a championship ring (even though there are plenty to go around: Cummins alone has five rings —plus a trio of MAC Tournament titles— during her Miami career!).

"They are incredible humans," said Kumar. "We have [several] that have already graduated with their Master's…and then to see their different personalities…I'm going to remember how they all came together.

"You have people who were here for six years, four years, three years, two: I'm just going to remember how they came together and put together this team.

"This team is theirs."

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If it were up to Kobayashi to nickname her team, one of the first phrases that comes to mind for the fifth-year outfielder from Kansas City, Mo. is 'Never Say Die.'

Even if the Red and White are down to their final at-bat of the game and find themselves trailing (such as a non-conference thriller at then-No. 1 Oklahoma where Miami responded with three consecutive home runs to tie the score), the RedHawks have proven it's never too late to get their bats on track.

"We know not everything's going to go perfect. We're not going to hit five home runs a game some games," Kobayashi said. "But we all have each other's backs. The pressure is on them [the opponent].

"If we play like Miami Softball, we will not have a problem. At all." Karli Spaid

That was never more apparent than last Thursday's MAC Tournament opener, when the top-seeded RedHawks struggled through a trio of rain delays to rally past Toledo, earning a 5-4 walk-off win more than nine hours after the game's first pitch. Miami trailed 4-1 in the fifth inning before pulling within striking distance on a two-run blast by Sami Bewick. And although the RedHawks were still down one going into the bottom of the seventh, it was Spaid that confidently strode to the plate with the game on the line.

"Coming out of the dugout, we had talked about refusing to lose. That was going through my head...being able to produce for my team and give us some mojo going to the rest of the inning," Spaid recalled.

The very first pitch ended up on the far side of the right-field fence. And just that quick, the Rockets' lead had fizzled.

"We've given up runs in the first inning, and our team's like, '[Okay.] Then, we hit," Kumar shrugged. "So it's like it doesn't matter.

"Nobody gets uptight. They just know we can do it, if they just stick to their game plan."

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With a sweep of the MAC Tournament in their rearview mirror, the red-hot RedHawks turn their attention this weekend to the NCAA regionals. Miami will face the Virginia Cavaliers Friday at noon in Knoxville, Tenn. to begin a four-team double-elimination regional before facing either Dayton or No. 3 Tennessee Saturday.

The goal: Advance to the program's first-ever Super Regionals. Kate Kobayashi

After playing in a regional final for the first time against Northwestern in 2023 before falling short, the RedHawks are confident in their chances to take that next step and extend what will likely be remembered as the greatest Miami Softball season ever.

"We've put this program on the map, and we want to see it continue to get better every single year," Kobayashi explained.

"We've seen it when we played against Oklahoma. We are capable of anything," added Blaska, who led the way offensively at last year's regionals with four homers, including a grand slam.

"We're playing loose, with no weight on our shoulders, and now it's just seeing how far we can go. We believe in each other one hundred percent, and we're giving it all we've got."

In a year full of breaking records and making history, don't be surprised if the RedHawks make a deep run in the bracket. They certainly won't be.

"I think after last year they want more. They got so close and they know they can do it and they've seen it this season...offensively, it's been one of those storybook seasons," said Kumar. "It's been amazing to sit back and watch it.

"They want to do things that Miami Softball's never done. You have to keep working. You can't be satisfied.

"And that's what they do."

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

Miami Softball begins its run in the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Friday, May 17 at noon against Virginia in the Knoxville Regional. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Bookmark MiamiRedHawks.com for the most up-to-date schedule info as the RedHawks chase another championship.

2024 Miami Softball seniors — *Senior Day (from L): Cummins, Blaska, Spaid, Kobayashi, Mueller, Banks, Hitchcock, Jarvis*

Everything But a Nickname: Inside the Best Miami Softball Season Ever

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Maddi Banks

Sami Bewick

Holly Blaska

Allie Cummins

Jenna Golembiewski

Ashley Hitchcock

Addy Jarvis

Kate Kobayashi

Logan Mueller

Karli Spaid

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