May 9, 2004

Box Score: Miami 3, Northern Illinois 1
Box Score: Miami 3, Northern Illinois 2

OXFORD, Ohio - Junior Jackie Poggendorf (Phoenix, Ariz./Shadow Mountain) become the RedHawks' all-time strikeout leader and head coach Angie Jacobs set the school record for coaching wins as Miami University's softball team swept Northern Illinois in a doubleheader on Senior Day at Miami Softball Field. With their game one, 3-1 win, the RedHawks (22-24-1, 14-9 MAC) qualified for the MAC Tournanament for the second consecutive year. MU came back from a 2-0 deficit in game two to defeat the Huskies (14-41, 6-18 MAC), 3-2, for Jacobs' 114th win at Miami.

Poggendorf (12-7) entered the day with 446 strikeouts, three shy of Abbey Arnold's school record (449) and tied it when Kara Schuur struck out looking to begin the third inning of game one. She broke the record with a strikeout to lead off the next inning and finished the day with 10 K's and just one walk. The walk was her first in 47.1 innings of work. The junior southpaw went the distance, scattering three NIU hits for the win.

"JP is a great pitcher," said Jacobs of Poggendorf. "This milestone shows the desire and determination she has put into the last few years. (Only a junior) she still isn't finished. It's very exciting because she has yet to hit her peak as a pitcher."

The RedHawks wasted no time in game one, taking a 1-0 lead in the opening frame. Senior Jamie Carey (Pendleton, Ind./Pendleton Heights) led off the first inning with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Poggendorf. The next batter, sophomore Bianca Paz (Mesilla, N.M./Las Cruces), followed with the first of her seven hits on the day, a single up the middle to score Carey.

Paz contributed to Miami's next two runs in the third and sixth innings. With one out in the third, Paz doubled to left and scored on a single through the right side by sophomore Kristen Hays (Phoenix, Ariz./Shadow Mountain). After senior Jessica Zogaib (Temperence, Mich./Bedford) was hit by a pitch to lead off the sixth, and moved to second on a Carey sac bunt, Paz collected her fourth hit of game one, an RBI single through the right side.

She would go on to finish the day 7-for-7 with two runs scored and two more driven in. Overall, Paz has hits in her last 10 at-bats, and is 13 for her last 14.

"Bianca is really in the groove and seeing the ball really well," said Jacobs of her hot-hitting shortstop. "She's just playing ball and having fun."

The Huskies avoided a shutout with a single run in the seventh inning. Toni Del Toro hit a one-out double to the wall in center and Kelly Drozd followed with an RBI single to make it 3-1.

Trailing 2-1 in game two, the Red and White came back with a pair of runs in the sixth inning. After Zogaib led off the inning with a single, Paz fouled a two-strike pitch off her eye. She collapsed to the ground and after a few minutes, returned to the plate and singled to left. Two batters later, Zogaib scored from second on a wild pitch, with Paz reaching third. She would later score the game-winning run on an NIU error.

"Her staying in the game after that goes to show what kind of player, and person, she is," Jacobs says. "Our players met before the game and said they were going put it all on the line for our seniors. They all went out there and gave everything they had."

Miami mounted a rally in the fifth inning to come within one run, at 2-1. Freshman Leslie Macedo (Livermore, Calif./Livermore) singled to right to open the inning. She moved up two bases, to third, on a sacrifice bunt by junior Sarah Buffie (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian). Buffie's bunt drew the third baseman and pitcher to the play and, with no one covering third, Macedo never broke stride, and took an extra base. Carey reached on a fielder's choice, which scored Macedo and ended the inning.

Northern Illinois jumped out to the 2-0 lead with a run in the third inning and an unearned run in the fifth. Schuur was hit by a pitch to lead off the third inning, stole second and scored on Kelly Park's single to center. In the fifth inning the lead-off batter once again reached, this time on a Lacey Gones single. After a sacrifice bunt and a RedHawk error, Kelly Redican plated Gones on a ground out to the pitcher.

Sophomore Courtney Salmon (Auburn, Wa./Auburn) got the start for Miami, allowing just four hits and one earned run in a complete-game effort. She struck out six and walked none in improving to 8-10 on the season.

The game two win was Jacobs' the 114th of her career at Miami. She passes Liz Kelly's total of 113 wins from 1989-92. Since taking the reigns of the Red and White softball program for the 199 season, Jacobs has posted a 114-183-1 coaching mark.

"I'm very happy for this team, program and these seniors," Jacobs said of her record-breaking win. "The fact that these wins came at the end of the season, and that they got us into the MAC Tournament, feels good."

The Red and White moves on to the MAC Tournament at Firestone Stadium, in Akron, Ohio, for the second year in a row, earning the fourth seed after a second-place finish in the MAC East Division. It is the RedHawks' third trip to the conference post-season, and first time it has happened in consecutive years.

"It's great to make the tournament in back-to-back years," said Jacobs. "All of our players' hard work over the year to get back to the tournament has paid off. It really is a tribute to these players that have helped to elevate the Miami Softball program."

Miami plays No. 5 Ohio in game two of the league tournament on Thursday, May 13, at 1:30 p.m. The winner moves on to play No. 1 Central Michigan (32-15, 21-3 MAC), while the loser will face the loser of the No. 3 Western Michigan/No. 6 Bowling Green game in the loser's bracket of the double-elimination tournament.