After eight-game win streak halted, Miami faces Toledo

By Julia Rivera, Staff Writer

The RedHawks' eight-game winning streak ended Tuesday night when the Miami University softball team split a doubleheader against Wright State University (16-14). MU won the first game, 4-2, and lost the second game, 8-2. The 'Hawks now stand at 18-12 (3-0 Mid-American Conference) on the season.

"Yesterday was a humbling day," senior pitcher Amber Logemann said. "Sometimes when you are on a winning streak you become relaxed, and so the second game yesterday showed that we can't settle and have to be focused for every pitch. Wright State had a good game though and took advantage of our mistakes."

In the first game, Wright State took an early 1-0 lead after a solo home run off Logemann in the top of the first inning. A sacrifice fly later in the inning by MU freshman first baseman Johniann Wahl brought freshman shortstop Michaela Schlattman home and tied the score at 1-1.

With one out in the bottom of the second, sophomore third baseman Kat Lee singled up the middle. Sophomore catcher Rylee Whispel followed with a walk. After Wright State recorded the second out of the frame, Schlattman blasted her eighth home run of the year, a three-run shot over the centerfield wall that gave the RedHawks a 4-1 lead.

Junior pitcher Kelsey Fredericks came in for relief for the final two innings.

Logemann allowed one earned run on two hits and struck out five in 5.0 innings pitched.

"Amber did a great job. She gave us five solid innings," head coach Clarissa Crowell said. "Kelsey did a good job of coming in and shutting the door."

In the top of the seventh, a fielding error followed by a double and a sacrifice fly brought in a run for Wright State, but Fredericks collected a pair of groundouts to finish off the 4-2 win and earn her first career save.

In the nightcap, Wright State again got on the board first with three runs off three hits in the top of the second inning. MU senior outfielder Hailey Reed hit a double to score Wahl and cut the deficit to 3-1.

The Raiders broke the game open with four runs in the top of the fifth. Wahl scored off a hit by junior catcher Lauren Anderson in the bottom of the sixth, but Wright State went on to take an 8-2 win.

"Obviously you never want to lose but I am not very happy with the way we lost that game," Crowell said. "We just didn't show up that game. We've got to be better than that. It's one of those games where we need to talk about what we need to learn from it, but we also need to bounce back because we have a big series this weekend against Toledo."

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The RedHawks return to Mid-American Conference play when they travel to University of Toledo for a three-game series this weekend. The teams play one game at 3 p.m. Friday and in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday.

"There will be some good games," Logemann said. "It's not about who we play, but about how we play. And if we focus on doing all the little things right and staying together as a team, we can do some great things this year."