Softball drops double header on Senior Day

By Caleb Scott

ADA -- The Ohio Northern softball team fell 4-3, 4-1 on Senior Day in a twinbill against Heidelberg at the ONU Softball Field on Saturday afternoon.

The Polar Bears fall to 23-11 overall and 9-7 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Student Princes improve to 24-9-1, 13-2-1.

ONU honored seniors Megan Hupp (Delaware/Olentangy) and Paige Ordean (Fort Loramie) prior to the contests.

Sophomore Hailee Loughman (Brookville) led Northern at the plate as she went a combined 3-for-5 on the afternoon and hit her team-leading sixth home run of the season.

Loughman also added two RBI and scored one run on the afternoon.

After two scoreless innings in game one, Heidelberg broke the game open with a 4-run third inning to take a 4-0 lead.

Northern would begin its rally in the bottom of the seventh frame as junior Jenna Hollar (Lima/Bath) got on base with a single and stole second base before freshman Gabby Stewart (Union, Ky./St. Henry) drove her home with an RBI-single to left field to pull Northern within 4-1.

On the ensuing at bat, Loughman drilled two-run home run over the center field fence to close the gap to 4-3.

HU would pitch its way out of the inning to claim game one.

In the second contest, HU got on the board first in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.

The Student Princes added one more run in the top of the second inning to take an early 2-0 lead.

HU added two runs in the top of the fifth inning before Northern answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning to close the gap to 4-1.

With Hollar in scoring position at second base, junior Gia Saturday (Ashtabula/Edgewood) hit a single to left field and plated Hollar.

Northern would not get any closer as HU went on to claim game two.

The Polar Bear return to action Monday as they host Wooster in a non-conference matchup  in the final home contest of the season at 3:30 pm at the ONU Softball Field.