Softball: Otterbein (13-10-1 Overall, 7-3 OAC) at Ohio Northern (17-11 Overall, 7-3 OAC)
Wednesday, April 19, 2023, 3 p.m. – ONU Softball Field, Ada, Ohio
Wednesday's Preview: Riding a five-game win streak, Ohio Northern continues Ohio Athletic Conference play on Wednesday hosting a doubleheader with Otterbein … The Polar Bears and Cardinals are currently in a five-way tie atop the OAC standings with Mount Union, Muskingum and Marietta … Northern is coming off Saturday's 1-0, 4-3 doubleheader sweep at John Carroll … Sophomore Ashley Lenser pitched a 4-hit shutout in Game 1, and senior Allie Bican tallied 12 strikeouts in Game 2 … Bican is the reigning OAC Pitcher of the Week after tallying 23 strikeouts to just one walk in going 3-0 last week … In Game 2, senior Sydney Motylinski hit two home runs, and senior Lauren Walls had the game-winning homer … Through 28 games, senior Annika Murray leads the Polar Bears with a .339 batting average, followed by fifth-year senior Abby Elliott (.338) and sophomore Callie Rosser (.326) … Rosser has a team-best 31 hits, shares the team lead with Elliott with 13 RBIs and shares the team lead with Motylinski with 18 runs … Junior Kaylie Griffin leads the team with six doubles, and Walls has a team-high three home runs … In the pitching circle, Lenser is 9-5 with a 2.18 ERA and 46 strikeouts, and Bican is 8-6 with a 3.38 ERA and 81 strikeouts … Lenser ranks fourth in the OAC in wins and sixth in ERA … Bican is tied for fifth in the OAC in wins and ranks fourth in strikeouts … In her career, Lenser is 21-9 with a 1.80 ERA and 120 strikeouts, which ranks 14th in program history … Bican is 20-16 with a career ERA of 3.11 and ranks fifth all-time at ONU in career strikeouts with 240 … Elliott has 145 career hits, which is tied for 14th all-time at ONU … Motylinski has 95 career hits, including 14 home runs, which is tied for ninth all-time at ONU … Otterbein is coming off Saturday's 4-2, 6-2 doubleheader sweep of Heidelberg … Caroline Heller (.403) and Megan Payne (.309) lead the Cardinals in batting average … Heller has a team-best 31 hits and is tied for sixth in the OAC with nine doubles … Payne has a team-high 13 RBIs … Isa Lewis is tied for fourth in the OAC with 10 steals … Bryn Grabowski (8-4, 1.32 ERA, 84 strikeouts) and Haylee Ternovan (2-1, 2.04 ERA, 5 strikeouts) lead the OU pitching staff … That duo ranks second and fifth, respectively, in the OAC in ERA … Grabowski ranks third in the OAC in strikeouts.
2023 Ohio Northern Batting Leaders:
Batting Avg. | Hits | Runs | RBI | |||||||||||
1. | Murray | .339 | 1. | Rosser | 31 | 1. | Motylinski | 18 | 1. | Elliott | 13 | |||
2. | Elliott | .338 | 2. | Elliott | 27 | Rosser | 18 | Rosser | 13 | |||||
3. | Rosser | .326 | 3. | Griffin | 25 | 3. | Elliott | 14 | 3. | Walls | 11 |
2023 Ohio Northern Pitching Leaders:
Wins | ERA | Strikeouts | ||||||||
1. | Lenser | 9 | 1. | Lenser | 2.18 | 1. | Bican | 81 | ||
2. | Bican | 8 | 2. | Bican | 3.38 | 2. | Lenser | 46 | ||
All-Time Series: Ohio Northern leads the all-time series with Otterbein by a 58-22 margin … In 2022, ONU swept a regular-season doubleheader with OU, winning 9-1 and 2-1, before getting a 1-0 victory over the Cardinals in the OAC Tournament.
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 152-86-1, a .638 winning percentage.