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'Hawks struggle at Frost Classic

Alyssa Zediker, For The Miami Student

The Miami University softball team faced another tough weekend at the Frost Classic in Chattanooga Tenn., finishing 1-4 over the weekend. They now stand at 2-8 on the season.

"It was a tough weekend," Head Coach Clarissa Crowell said. "I was expecting to come home with a few more wins, but we played some very good competition this weekend."

The team finished out the tournament fighting through a three and a half hour game that went into ten innings against the Lipscomb University Bison after they tied the game up in the bottom of the seventh at six all. Ultimately they were not able hold off the Bison, who scored three in the top of the 10th inning and went on to win 11-9.

"I guarantee that my kids will continue to play hard and that is a standard for us because there is just no other way to play the game," Crowell said.

The RedHawks started off the tournament with a hard loss to Eastern Kentucky University (10-2) and only played five innings. They also faced the Boston College Eagles, where the Eagles took the game from behind in the bottom of the seventh taking the win 6-5.

Junior first baseman Allie Larrabee felt that her teammates were able to do their jobs this weekend and move runners around the bases, highlighting the teams skill to get sacrifice bunts down to score runners.

"When the time was right, people were doing ordinary things, in extraordinary situations like when we are on the ropes, so offensively I think we were solid," Larrabee said.

The team's offensive skill was particularly evident in their game against Tennessee Tech, where they came from behind to win 9-6.

However, later Saturday, Miami faced the host school, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga which ended in extra innings with another tough loss (10-6).

Crowell commends the team for the continued fighting attitude because she realizes that it is tough, when the hard work and fighting for the win is not paying off.

"There's no lying down, and I think we have shown what we can do if we just continue," Crowell said. "If we continue to fight the way we have been fighting, the tides will turn and we are going to start winning some of these games later in the season."

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Crowell feels that these early season adversities will teach the team how to fight when it comes time for conference play, and she wants the team to understand that it is a process, which will ultimately help them in the long run.

"As a team we are pretty confident that we will be able to [make comebacks] throughout the rest of the season, and we are trying not to get down about how the games did not turn out the way we wanted," Larrabee said.

Following the tough weekend at the Frost Classic, the RedHawks have a week off before traveling to Louisville, Ky. for the Red and Black Tournament.

"This weekend overall definitely showed that we are a team that is going to fight and we are not going to back down," junior catcher Kayla Ledbetter said. "We did come through obstacles that didn't come out our way, but I think it showed a side of our team that is definitely positive."