Softball: Otterbein (22-8 Overall, 9-3 OAC) at Ohio Northern (24-4 Overall, 10-2 OAC)
Friday, Apr. 20, 2018 - 3 p.m. - ONU Softball Field - Ada, Ohio
Preview: Friday's contest features two of the top three teams in the Ohio Athletic Conference standings ... The Polar Bears enter the twinbill riding a seven game winning streak, including a double header sweep of John Carroll on Friday ... Senior Kirsten Lightel and junior Kaitlin Surdej each picked up victories in the pitchers circle during the sweep ... Lightel and Surdej rank 1-2 in the OAC, respectively with 13 and 11 victories in the pitchers circle ... The duo also ranks 1-2 in the OAC in ERA as Lightel is first with a 1.54 ERA and Surdej ranks second in the conference with a 2.35 ERA ... Lightel also ranks second in the OAC with 98 K's this season ... The senior is two K's shy of becoming the first pitcher in ONU history to record 100 or more strikeouts in each of her four seasons at ONU ... Lightel and Surdej's combined 2.01 ERA currently ranks 19th nationally ... Offensively, the Polar Bears are led by senior Jenna Hollar ... Hollar is currently tied for first in the OAC, hitting an impressive .500, while sophomore Brady Guest is second on the team and third in the OAC, hitting .450 ... Sophomore Gabby Stewart currently leads the team and ranks second in the OAC with 32 RBI this season ... Hollar leads the OAC with 31 stolen bases this season and is two stolen bases shy of tying the all-time single season record at ONU ... Hollar's 1.15 steals per game ranks sixth nationally ... Her 49 hits this season leads the OAC and is tied for 11th nationally ... Otterbein enters the contest riding a 6-game winning streak ... Junior pitcher Gabby Johnson leads the Cardinals on the pitchers circle as she leads the team and ranks fourth in the OAC in ERA (2.72), tied third in the OAC in wins (10), and first in the OAC in K's (112) ... Offensively, senior Bailey McElwain leads the team and ranks fourth in the OAC with a .440 batting average ... She also leads the team and is tied for third in the OAC with six home runs ... McElwain also leads the team and ranks third in the OAC with 44 hits this season ... Junior Alyson Shaw leads the team and ranks second in the OAC with 14 stolen bases ... Senior Megan Garner has a team-high 28 RBI.
Batting Leaders
| Batting Ave. | Hits | Runs | RBI | |||||||||||
| 1. | Hollar | .500 | 1. | Hollar | 49 | 1. | Hollar | 39 | 1. | Stewart | 32 | |||
| 2. | Guest | .450 | 2. | Stewart | 35 | 2. | Swierz | 20 | 2. | Guest | 22 | |||
| 3. | Stewart | .422 | 3. | Guest | 27 | 3. | Stewart | 18 | 3. | Loughman | 18 |
Pitching Leaders
| Wins | ERA | Strikeouts | ||||||||
| 1. | Lightel | 13 | 1. | Lightel | 1.54 | 1. | Lightel | 98 | ||
| 2. | Surdej | 11 | 2. | Surdej | 2.35 | 2. | Surdej | 56 |
Series Notes: ONU leads the all-time series between the two schools by a 48-18 margin ... Otterbein swept the series in 2017 and has won four of the last five meetings between the schools.
ONU head coach Jackie Price: Price is in her second season as head coach of the Polar Bears and owns an 49-17 record, a winning percentage of .742.
