Softball splits OAC twin-bill with Mount Union on Sunday at the ONU Softball Field

By Tim Glon

ADA -- Ohio Northern and Mount Union split an Ohio Athletic Conference double header Sunday afternoon at the ONU Softball Field.

MtU won the opener 5-0 and ONU took the nightcap 9-5.

The Polar Bears move to 18-6 overall and are 9-1 in the OAC, while the Purple Raiders move to 14-18, 4-8.

The games were rescheduled for Sunday after being rained out on Saturday.

In Game 2, Northern had 16 base hits and scored four runs in both the third and fifth frames to get the split.

Freshman Kelly Sheridan went 4-for-4 with 3 RBI and 3 runs scored to lead the ONU offense

ONU got on the board in the bottom of the second on an RBI double by sophomore Christin Miller.

Sheridan followed with a 2-run single and senior All-American Jackie Mangola blooped an RBI single to center it was 4-1 Polar Bears.

Leading 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth, Sheridan drilled a double to center field to score Miller to extend Northern's advantage to 5-3.

Senior Katie Cretin then collected a 2-run single and freshman Jamie Westinkirchner had an RBI single and ONU led 8-3.

The Purple Raiders pulled within 8-5 with two runs in the top of the fifth, but Northern answered in the bottom half of the frame.

Senior All-American Kimi Blewett singled home Sheridan, who had drilled a 2-out double, to give the Polar Bears a 9-5 lead.

Sophomore Dani Steepe improved to 2-0 and junior Katy Newman picked up her second save of the year with three innings of relief pitching.

In Game 1, MtU scored three times in the top of the first and added single runs in the fifth and seventh innings to snap ONU's 7-game win streak.

Junior Abbey Bensing falls to 7-4 with the loss and Bre Willis improves to 7-8 with the 4-hit, 9-strikeout shutout.

Miller finished the twin-bill 5-for-8 with an RBI and two runs scored.

The Polar Bears will return to action Tuesday with an OAC double header at Wilmington.