MIAMI SOFTBALL

MU softball adds pitching, catching talent/depth 

Part 1 of 2 softball preview articles

By MIKE SMITH
With substantial turnover and a new head coach, the 2025 Miami RedHawks softball team began league play with a degree of uncertainty. There is plenty of reason for more optimism this year. 

MU had become perennial Mid-American Conference champs and frequent NCAA tourney participants under head coach Kirin Kumar. However, roster losses and Kumar's departure (to Ohio State) led to a new chapter in 2025. Still playing an aggressive schedule, but this time under new head coach Mandy Gardner-Colegate, the  RedHawks went 9-14 before beginning Mid-American Conference play. 

Fortunately, MU opened MAC play with 12 straight wins in 2025 and went on -- with a little late help -- to win the regular season title. They then backed that up with a MAC tournament championship and NCAA appearance. 

This year's RedHawks . . . 

---

. . . team, which opens with a three-game home series against Western Michigan this weekend, owns an 18-4 record. Early results include several wins over Power Four programs (e.g. Minnesota 3X, Iowa, Missouri 2X).  Miami, which ranks No. 7 in the D1Softball.com mid-major weekly rankings, is currently riding a 13-game winning streak. The last lost was Feb. 17.

Here is a look at the 2026 RedHawks, along with comments from Colegate-Gardner.

Le'a Chevrier had a strong finish to 2025 and is off to a good start this year. (MVSmith/MRO)

PITCHING
•  Madilyn Reeves was the RedHawks workhorse and ace in 2025, throwing 63.1 percent of MU's innings and fashioning a 23-12 record. She is gone (Louisville). 
•  By contrast, this year's staff has both quality and quantity. Among the returnees is Le'a Chevrier, a Quebec native who saw limited action in her first year as a RedHawk. Chevrier, however, stepped up in a big way for Miami during the MAC Tournament. She pitched 12 scoreless innings in the tourney and tossed her first collegiate no hitter against Ball State. 
After a successful fall, the senior has thus far performed well. She is 5-0 with a 2.67 ERA.
"I think she has kind of grown up before our eyes. ... She looks stronger than ever, but the thing I'm most proud of is on the mental side of it," Colegate-Gardner said "Her leadership on the field has really taken a step up. (Also), I think she's trusting her stuff more this year and understanding that she can throw it around the plate and trust her movement. Hitters have to get through her spin. If she's having good spin, she can put it a little more on the plate. ... Her walks are way down compared to where they were last year." 

•  A big addition to this year's staff is Presley Hosick. The senior logged stints at Cal Baptist and Minnesota before joining MU this year. To date, she has thrown a team-high 63.1  innings, recording a 6-2 record and 1.99 ERA. 
"Presley kind of carries us," Colegate-Gardner said. "She's thrown our most innings (and) ... our biggest games. 
She has hit 73 miles per hour this season, but she lives around 70, and then we developed the changeup with her, so she's pretty hard to touch. She doesn't walk a lot, and she attacks the zone. She gets strikeouts when she needs (them), and she's just a competitor. When she's on the mound, we know we can compete against anybody."

•  Angelina Ricciardi, meanwhile, is coming off some recent success. The junior posted a 0.93 earned-run average and collected three wins over three appearances this past weekend, helping the RedHawks continue their 13-game win streak. She added one complete game and allowed just two runs and nine hits over those three appearances. For her efforts, Riccardi was named Mid-Major Pitcher of the Week by D1Softball.com.
Ricciardi owns a 7-2 record and has appeared in 11 games, recording a 2.86 ERA to date. 
•  Not only do the 2026 RedHawks have MORE pitching depth, Colegate-Gardner is happy to have a staff with different styles and strengths -- particularly after adding/tweaking some of their repetoire during the off-season. 
"We've got three (starters) with an under 3.00 ERA. When you've got three like that, it's going to be tough to scout us, because they're all very different. They throw different speeds. They throw different movements."
•  Liliana Arana has seen limited relief action this year.

---

CATCHING
•  McKena Campbell took over catching duties last year, continuing a RedHawks run of solid play at the dish. She batted .341 with a .506 slugging percentage in 2025. Her offensive contributions included 58 hits with 10 doubles and six homers. Defensively, she caught 12 runners stealing and was able to handle pitchers well last year. She was a Second Team All-MAC selection.
•  Campbell shouldered the catching load in 2025, starting all 62 games. However, she is getting help this season as Lindsey Miller joins MU. The former Kentucky Wildcat has already made 12 starts and counts two homes among her eight hits. 
"They're kind of interchangeable," Gardner-Colegate said. "People don't steal on us. Kenna has an absolute hose (for an arm), and Lindsey gets rid of it really quickly, so we're eliminating the run game, as well."

Check out Part 2 of the softball preview tomorrow