MIAMI SOFTBALL

It's RedHawks vs. Cardinals in Thursday matchup

By MIKE SMITH
AKRON, OH -- The 2025 Mid-American Conference Softball Tournament opened Wednesday at Firestone Stadium. One game in, the top-seeded Miami RedHawks know their opponent for tourney Game Four. 

No. 4 Seed Ball State earned a shot at Miami by thumping Akron 9-1 Wednesday. The Cardinals and RedHawks will meet Thursday at noon. 

BSU led 2-1 through four innings but outscored the Zips 7-0 in the fifth and sixth.  Third baseman Katie Van Der Mark capped a five-run sixth inning with a walk-off, two-run single. 

The redshirt junior was . . . 

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. . . one of four Cardinals with multiple-hits on the day. Leadoff batter Mata Pietrzak went 3-for-4 to lead the way ast BSU out-hit Akron 13-3 overall. Catcher McKayla Timmons homered while stroking two hits and drawing a walk. 

Ella Whitney (19-8) threw all six innings for Ball State, allowing one run, three hits, and one walk while striking out two. Macy Walters (15-9) took the loss for fifth-seeded Akron. 

PREVIOUS 2025 MEETINGS
 • Miami and Ball State met for a three-game series April 11-12. Although the RedHawks prevailed 7-4 in an eight-inning Game One. BSU tossed back to back shutouts (3-0 and 5-0) against Miami the next day. 

The setbacks started a mid-season slide during which MU dropped seven of eight games. Three of those losses were at Ohio, allowing the Bobcats to move into first place. They stayed there until the final weekend. Ohio lost its last two regular season games, while Miami swept Buffalo to retake first and win the regular season crown. 

Offense was MU's biggest problem during the slide. The RedHawks were shutout four times and totaled three runs over two of the other three losses.

An "off" weekend April 26-27 seemed to help as MU scored 22 runs in a pair of wins at Bowling Green. It followed that with 22 runs in the three-game sweep of Buffalo. 

"It was awesome. I think it was the right time for us," Miami Head Coach Mandy Gardner-Coleman said. "Obviously, we kind of went through a tough time up until that weekend. So going into that weekend, we knew there was a lot of work to be done. ... Having those days to work on what we'd been struggling with (was nice) instead of just prepping for the next team."

BALL STATE PLAYERS TO WATCH 
 • BSU pitcher Ella Whitmey allowed Miami just two hits in the Cardinals 5-0 win over Miami April 12. She leads the league in opponent batting average (.227). Breanna Severino scattered seven hits in seven innings of BSU's 3-0 win over MU. 

 • Timmons leads MAC hitters with a .435 batting average. She also tops the league on slugging percentage (.924), walks (44) on-base percentage (.611) and RBIs (54). She is second in stolen bases (21).  • Pietrzak tops the league in runs scored (60). Timmons was MAC Player of the Year. She and Pietrzak were both First Team All=MAC selections. 

 • Ball State leads the MAC in runs scored (328) - seven more than Miami.

REDHAWK NOTES
​• Like Ball State, two Miami players earned All-MAC First Team honors. Sophomore Madilyn Reeves led the league in innings pitched (224.2) , victories (21) and strikeouts (202).
Chloe Parks, one of three seniors on the MU roster, also was selected for Nan Harvey Award. She led the RedHawks in hits during the regular  season and topped the MAC in doubles. "I feel like I have had really good contact this year. I'm seeing the ball well and putting it in play." 

• McKenna Campbell and Shelby Kunkel were Second Team All-MAC honorees. Campbell has been a key part of Miami's late rebound as she moved into a cleanup spot -- providing both hit and power. Shelby topped RedHawks batters with a .378 average and 1.091 OPS.

• All three Miami seniors - Jenna Goembiewski, Kunkel and Parks found this year's regular season championship special among their multiple titles. 

"This is probably the most rewarding one, just because so many teams doubted us and thought this is their chance ...  We had a brand new team with a brand new coaching staff (and) we have a lot of younger players," Golembiewski said. "But we do what we always do. We play Miami softball, and it feels great."

"It felt amazing," Parks said. "This one was so special, especially (clinching) on senior day."

Asked about the stretch run and the chance for another MAC Tournament run, Parks said she thought "All the (players) are coming together at the perfect time of the year."

MORE WEDNESDAY TOURNEY SCORES
• No. 6 Northern Illinois 6, No. 3 Central Michigan 5
• No. 5 Akron 8, No. 3 Central Michigan 1
# Central Michigan eliminated