Midseason review: Miami Softball fields its stride, dialed on a Super Regional appearance

In a year filled with historic seasons from both men’s and women’s basketball teams, the Miami University softball team is looking to contribute to the RedHawks’ athletics success. The Lady RedHawks are off to a 24-8 record to start the season.

The team is under second-year head coach Mandy Gardner-Colegate. During her first season with the RedHawks, they went 36-26. After losing three seniors and welcoming 14 new athletes to the roster, the team is continuing its success from last year.

Coach Gardner-Colegate made the decision to have no captains this year. Instead, the team is player-motivated, full of new faces and doesn’t have a true stand-out captains.

“We like to pride ourselves in being a player-led program, which I think is really good,” senior pitcher Presley Hosick said.

Winning four straight Mid-American Conference (MAC) tournaments is no easy feat, and the RedHawks are the only team in its conference to accomplish this. The RedHawks are favored to make it five straight, continuing their dominance in the MAC.

However, over the past four impressive seasons, the RedHawks struggled at NCAA Regionals, going 1-2 in three out of the four seasons. Under Gardner-Colegate, the team looks to move past the losing records and make a deep run in regionals.

“If we are playing our game, we can compete with anybody in the country,” Gardner-Colegate said.

Miami has improved its batting all season long. The team currently ranks No. 40 in the nation in batting average (.330), along with 43 home runs this season.

Bailey Manos, a senior who transferred from Purdue University Fort Wayne, leads the team in batting average (.438), recording 39 hits in 89 at-bats. Manos struggled with an injury and is still working on coming back fully healthy as the end of the season approaches.

“My last three years at my old school I was working on my swing,” Manos said. “I used to be a slapper, so getting into being a power hitter is still new for me.”

Manos also leads the team in slugging percentage (.888), which measures a hitter's power. Additionally, Manos has recorded six doubles, two triples and 10 home runs on the year.

The pitching has also improved for the RedHawks this season. Coach Gardner-Colegate emphasized utilizing more quality pitchers in the bullpen to balance the workload and create more depth in the lineup.

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“Last year we had basically two pitchers and then this year we have six,” Gardner-Colegate said. “We can throw different pitchers in different situations and the defense feels really confident and comfortable with them on the mound.”

Hosick is a primary contributor to the pitching success of the RedHawks. Hosick is on her third team, previously playing for California Baptist University and the University of Minnesota. With Hosick on the mound, the team is 7-3. Hosick has pitched seven complete games and two shutout games.

“Growing up pitching I was always told you set the tone for the game,” Hosick said. “I enjoy being able to step up for my team and be there.”

On the pitching side, the bullpen has a 3.35 earned run average per game, which ranks No. 57 in the nation, along with 123 recorded strikeouts and holding opponents to a .251 batting average.

The Lady RedHawks have excelled on defense as well. First baseman Ella Carter leads the team in putouts with 189 this season. With a near perfect fielding percentage of .958 and 20 stolen runs allowed, Miami is doing a great job defensively to complement its batting.

Coach Gardner-Colegate ensured the team has found time to bond and make the long season enjoyable amid the hard work and demanding schedule.

“We do a ton of team activities and team bonding things,” Gardner-Colegate said. “A lot of the things off the field contribute to our success.”

There are still plenty of games ahead for the team, but being ranked No. 13 in the Mid-Major Poll testifies to its success. The RedHawks are looking to do something never done in program history, qualifying for a Super Regional tournament.

mccartd6@miamioh.edu