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Miami softball coach facing her mentor

RedHawks will battle Robert Morris in tournament that begins today.

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By Jay Morrison, Staff Writer 1:16 AM Friday, March 19, 2010

OXFORD — Miami University softball coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly will be greeted by a familiar face when her RedHawks kick off the Miami Invitational today, March 19.

Robert Morris coach Craig Coleman was Kovach Schoenly’s summer coach before she played at the University of Michigan, and Coleman will be in the opposing dugout when Miami begins tournament play against Colonials at 4 p.m.

“He’s a close friend,” Kovach Schoenly said of Coleman, who has amassed 393 wins in his 16 seasons at Robert Morris, where he also is the athletic director. “He’s a legend in our sport, and I’m really looking forward to catching up with him.”

Michigan State, Toledo and Canisius also will participate in the round-robin tournament, which runs through Sunday, although the RedHawks’ game against the Rockets will not count toward the Mid-American Conference standings.

“We try to get schools from different areas and bring some good, competitive teams to town,” said Kovach Schoenly said, whose team is off to an 8-12 start.

“I’m happy with our pitching,” Kovach Schoenly said. “They’re getting their innings in and getting ready for conference and they’ve had some great performances along the way.”

The pitching was especially strong last weekend at the Husky Classic in Seattle, where the RedHawks went 2-4 with two of the losses coming against No. 1 ranked, defending national champion Washington.

For their performances out west, sophomore Jessica Simpson and senior outfielder Alicia Hogl earned the MAC East Division Pitcher and Player of the Week awards, respectively.

Simpson allowed just three earned runs in 10 innings against the country’s top team, and she surrendered just one more earned run in her other 16 innings of work. Hogl, a Bellingham, Wash., native, got to play in front her hometown fans for the first time in her career, and she responded by hitting .389 with a home run, three doubles and 13 totals bases.

“That’s something we try to do, is get every kid a chance to go back home and play at some point in their career,” Kovach Schoenly said. “Every time we go to a kid’s hometown and meet their family, it makes our team closer. Plus it’s just nice to see where they’re from and what makes them who they are. There’s a lot more to it than just softball.”

Miami will play two games Saturday — 12 p.m. against Canisius and 2 p.m. against Michigan State — before wrapping up the invitational with a 4 p.m. contest Sunday against Toledo.

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