Fought becomes first to 200 career hits as No. 8 Softball sweeps Denison
By Tim Glon
ADA -- Senior Mandi Fought became the first player in school history to collect 200 career base hits and No. 8-ranked Ohio Northern swept Denison 7-3 and 14-0 Tuesday afternoon at the ONU Softball Field.
The Polar Bears ran their win streak to 14 games and improved to 17-1, while the Big Red fell to 8-8.
Fought led off the bottom of the first in Game 2 with a triple, making her the first Ohio Northern player in history to collect 200 career base hits.
Sophomore Jackie Mangola followed Fought's historic hit with a 2-run home run to left field, making it 2-0 Polar Bears.
After Northern loaded the bases, freshman Cassie Rankin smacked a 2-run single to make it 4-0.
Fought came to the plate again in the first with two out and the bases once again loaded and drilled a 2-run double to cap the rally and make it a 6-0 ONU advantage.
Senior All-American Tina Mangola smashed a 2-run home run to deep center field to make it an 8-0 contest in the bottom of the second.
A pair of DU errors led to two more Polar Bear runs and ONU led 10-0 after two innings.
Fought added a 2-run single in the bottom of the fourth and later scored on a bloop double by Jackie Mangola to make it a 13-0 contest.
Sophomore Kim Blewett doubled home Mangola to make it 14-0.
Fought finished the game 3 for 4 with a double, triple and 4 RBI.
Sophomore Maggie Molnar limited DU to just one hit in three innings or work to improve to 6-0 on the season. She also extended her streak of not allowing a ball out of the infield to 9.1 consecutive innings.
In Game 1, the Polar Bears struck first in the bottom of the second inning, batting around and scoring four runs to take a 4-0 lead.
Freshman Cassie Rankin had an RBI single to score sophomore Cassie Gaye, who led off the inning with a single, with the game's first run.
In the home half of the fourth, Jackie Mangola fought off 12 pitches before lacing a triple to right field and scored on a single by sophomore Kim Blewett to make it 5-0 Polar Bears.
Denison got on the board with a 2-out, RBI double in the top of the fifth by Lauren Lynn.
Alex Murray hit a 2-run home run in the top of the sixth to pull the Big Red within 5-3.
Northern plated a couple of insurance runs in the home half of the sixth. Senior Katie Salay opened up the frame with a single, stole second and advanced to third on an infield single by Fought.
Fought stole second base on the next pitch and both Fought and Salay scored on a throwing error by the Big Red catcher, as her throw sailed into center field.
Senior Cortney Cash threw a complete-game 8-hitter to earn the win and improve to 10-1 on the season.
The Polar Bears will return to Ohio Athletic Conference action Friday with a 1 pm double header against No. 13-ranked Capital at the ONU Softball Field.