The Miami University softball team competed at the Georgia Tech Classic in Atlanta Ga. from Feb 15-17, and finished their opening weekend with a record of 1-4. The team played 24th-ranked Georgia Tech and Marshall twice and Indiana University once, and defeated Marshall the first time they faced off.

“We still have a lot to work on, but we are coming together and working on the things we need to work on, specifically defense and making the plays,” sophomore pitcher Megan Mattera said. “Overall we still have a lot to work on and we know that we are going to get better.”

The RedHawks suffered a no-hitter against the Indiana Hoosiers on Friday morning and lost by run rule in the fifth inning 10-0. The first inning of the game was tough, as the Hoosiers put up seven runs. Two errors by the RedHawk defense also hurt the team because the Hoosiers only earned one of their runs.

“I tell [the team] the defense can’t take days off, but we just have to get better and that is going to come through time,” Head Coach Clarissa Crowell said. “I don’t expect to be at their best right now and these preseason games are meant to prepare us for conference.”

Following the loss, Miami played the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, where its bats came alive posting eight runs, but the Yellow Jackets just edged Miami out by scoring 10 runs. Even though the RedHawks lost by two, they put up three homeruns, two of which were from junior catcher Kayla Ledbetter, a career-high for her.

“We knew that we needed to be on the ball, especially against these tough teams, but we competed this weekend and that’s what we wanted to do, and we have to keep playing Miami softball,” Mattera said.

Saturday Miami faced off against Georgia Tech again and Marshall later in the day, where they fell short of Georgia Tech again by two runs (6-4) and defeated Marshall by six (8-2).

Junior pitcher Paige Myers tied her career high of 10 strikeouts and held Marshall to one earned run. The RedHawks, however, were held scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, where they were able to post four runs to finish out the inning. The RedHawks beat Marshall with a total of six hits and Marshall made seven errors in the game.

The RedHawks faced off against Marshall for a rematch on Sunday and to conclude the tournament where they lost 11-6, and were almost held scoreless until the bottom of the fifth with two outs. The team rallied, scoring six runs and prevented a run-rule defeat to extending the game to the final two innings, where both teams held the other scoreless.

Crowell is pleased with how the team performed and she feels they showed they could compete as a team. Crowell is excited for practice as they will be able to continue to focus on improving their defense and pitching skills.

“We just have to get one percent better every time, if we get one percent better next weekend I know we will have a successful weekend,” Crowell said.