Sunday-Friday, March 12-17, 2023 – Winter Haven, Fla., and Jan Phyl Village, Fla.
| 2023 Softball Season Preview |
Spring Games Preview: The Ohio Northern softball team opens its 2023 season on Sunday at The Spring Games in Florida for its Spring Break trip … The Polar Bears will play two games each day on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday … The 10-game slate is highlighted by games against No. 11 Case Western Reserve on Sunday and No. 20 Babson (Mass.) on Monday … ONU is also set to face Salve Regina (R.I.), Endicott (Mass.), Benedictine (Ill.), Westminster (Pa.), St. Mary's (Ind.), Lakeland (Wis.), Rutgers-Camden (N.J.) and Lake Forest (Ill.) … The games will be played at Diamondplex Field in Winter Haven, Fla., and Auburndale Field in Jan Phyl Village, Fla. … The Polar Bears are seeking their third straight Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament championship this season and return 10 letter winners from the 2022 team that finished 24-11 overall and won the OAC Regular Season title with a 16-2 record en route to advancing to the NCAA Tournament … Northern's group of returners is led by four 2022 All-OAC honorees in seniors Sydney Motylinski and Allie Bican, junior Kaylie Griffin and sophomore Ashley Lenser … Motylinski enters 2023 with 76 career hits, including 12 home runs and 13 doubles, and 53 RBIs … Lenser is coming off a 2022 season in which she was named to the NFCA All-Region VII Second Team and All-OAC First Team as the OAC Pitcher of the Year and OAC Rookie of the Year … Lenser finished 2022 with a 12-4 record, 1.46 ERA and 74 strikeouts … Lenser had six shutouts, including one no-hitter, in 2022 … Bican was named to the All-OAC First Team in 2022 after posting a 6-1 record with a 2.10 ERA and 41 strikeouts … Bican has a career ERA of 2.97 and ranks 11th all-time at ONU in career strikeouts with 159 … Griffin led ONU in batting average (.411), runs (32), hits (44), home runs (6) and RBIs (27) and tied for the team lead in doubles (7) in 2022 and earned NFCA All-Region VII Second Team and All-OAC First Team accolades … The Polar Bears also return fifth-year senior Abby Elliott and seniors Annika Murray and Lauren Walls, all of whom started 24-plus games in 2022 … Elliott enters 2023 as a career .307 hitter with 118 hits, including 22 doubles, six triples and three home runs, to go with 74 runs and 58 RBIs … Elliott's 118 career hits rank 29th all-time at ONU.
2023 Ohio Northern Returning Batting Leaders:
|
Batting Avg. |
|
|
|
Hits |
|
|
|
Runs |
|
|
|
RBI |
|
1. |
Griffin |
.411 |
|
1. |
Griffin |
44 |
|
1. |
Griffin |
32 |
|
1. |
Griffin |
27 |
2. |
Lenser |
.307 |
|
2. |
Elliott |
32 |
|
2. |
Elliott |
26 |
|
2. |
Motylinski |
17 |
3. |
Elliott |
.283 |
|
3. |
Motylinski |
26 |
|
3. |
Motylinski |
14 |
|
3. |
Elliott |
12 |
2023 Ohio Northern Returning Pitching Leaders:
|
Wins |
|
|
|
ERA |
|
|
|
Strikeouts |
|
1. |
Lenser |
12 |
|
1. |
Lenser |
1.46 |
|
1. |
Lenser |
74 |
2. |
Bican |
6 |
|
2. |
Bican |
2.10 |
|
2. |
Bican |
41 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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All-Time Series: Case Western Reserve leads the all-time series with ONU by a 6-1 margin … Westminster (Pa.) leads the all-time series with ONU by a 2-0 margin … ONU leads the all-time series with St. Mary's (Ind.) by a 2-0 margin … This marks ONU's first all-time meetings with Salve Regina (R.I.), Endicott (Mass.), Babson (Mass.), Benedictine (Ill.), Lakeland (Wis.), Rutgers-Camden (N.J.) and Lake Forest (Ill.) … This is the second straight season ONU has played in The Spring Games … Northern posted a 4-4 record in the event last season.
Head Coach Jackie Price: Price is in her seventh year at the helm of the Ohio Northern softball team … She owns a career record of 135-75-1, a .642 winning percentage.