Softball looks to build off BGSU win

As the Miami Softball team heads towards the home stretch of their season, they are focused on taking the rest of their season one game at a time. Currently second place in the Mid-American Conference with a record of 9-6 in conference play and 23-17 overall, the RedHawks are preparing for a run deep into the MAC Tournament.

"We are processed based and are focused on the next game at hand," said head coach Clarisa Crowell.

Last season, the RedHawks finished the regular season with a record of 15-7 in conference play and 35-23 overall. They won the MAC Tournament, earning a NCAA Tournament berth where they eventually lost to Michigan and Notre Dame in regional finals.

According to Coach Crowell, this season has been successful but hasn't been without speed bumps along the way.

"It's been a rollercoaster of a season for us," Crowell said. "We've faced a lot of adversity but that adversity is what will prepare us for big games coming up in the tournament."

It's games like the one against Bowling Green on April 12 which will prepare the team for big games coming up in the tournament. Coming back from behind to beat the No. 1 Falcons 5-4, the RedHawks showed resilience. This has been a theme throughout the season according to junior third baseman Kat Lee.

"We have faced some adversity," Lee said. "During the preseason and also a few weekends early on in the season, we went without a win in a series. We learned some valuable lessons. We know how to lose and how to bounce back."

The team has been dominant at home with an 11-1 record. Away from home, the team is 5-8 and 7-8 at neutral sites.

With 11 games remaining on the schedule before the MAC Tournament, sophomore shortstop Michaela Schlattman says the team is feeling good about the season to this point.

"We're on the rise," Schlattman said. "We're working together, playing together and the energy is really high."

Coming off a 2016 campaign in which Schlattman earned first-team all-MAC honors and tied the single season homerun record for a Miami player, she leads the team in batting with a .368 average.

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A leader on and off the field, Schlattman has kept her goals high for herself and for the team -- there is still work to be done and games to be played.

"Every year our goal is to win the MAC Tournament," Schlattman said. "We take one game at a time, but our overall goal is to make it to [NCAA] Regionals."

The RedHawks last made it to Regionals of the NCAA Tournament in 2012 before losing to the fifth ranked Tennessee Volunteers.

The team's remaining 11 games include a home series against Buffalo, an away series against Wright State and an away series against Ohio University before it closes out the season in Oxford with a home series against Akron on May 5 and 6. The team then travels to Akron for the MAC Tournament May 10-13.