Softball: Ohio Northern (17-9 Overall) at Wittenberg (5-21 Overall)
Monday, April 15, 2019, 3 p.m. — Betty Doughman Dillahunt Field, Springfield, Ohio
Monday's Preview: The Ohio Northern softball program opens up back-to-back road dates Monday afternoon with a trip to Wittenberg for a nonconference doubleheader in Springfield ... Game one is slated for a 3 p.m. first pitch at Betty Doughman Dillahunt Field ... The Polar Bears enter the contests sporting a 17-9 overall record and riding a ten-game win streak ... ONU is coming off a 3-1, 23-3 (F/5) sweep over conference foe John Carroll on Senior Day ... Freshman outfielder Rachel Hish paced the offense with five hits and five runs scored ... Meanwhile, freshmen Hannah Rubel and Marissa Cilluffo each added a team-high four RBI while the latter added a grand slam home run in game two ... Senior Hailee Loughman went four-for-six with two walks, two RBI, and three runs scored ... In the pitching circle, senior Kaitlin Surdej struck out two in a complete game victory in game one while freshman Maddie Anderson tossed 3.2 innings in relief for the game two win ... Through 26 games, junior Gabby Stewart leads the team with 25 RBI, 40 hits, 22 runs scored, and a .449 batting average, which ties for fourth in the Ohio Athletic Conference ... Loughman and junior Brady Guest sit 2-3 in batting average with .443 and .420 marks, respectively ... Guest leads the team and is tied for fifth in the league with four home runs ... In the circle, Surdej leads ONU with a 11-4 record, a 2.37 ERA, and 61 strikeouts in 109.1 innings ... She is tied for first with two saves, third in wins and ERA, and tied for fifth in strikeouts on the conference leaderboards ... Stewart ranks 19th all-time in ONU history with 132 career base hits ... Loughman owns 123 career hits, which ties for 24th-most all-time ... Surdej ranks third all-time at ONU in strikeouts (306) and fourth in wins (43) in her career ... Wittenberg enters the nonconference affairs with a 5-21 overall record this season ... The Tigers are coming off 7-5 and 8-4 losses to Kenyon on Saturday ... Sophomore infielder Elise Freeland currently leads the offense with 34 hits, a .415 batting average, 18 RBI, 26 runs, and 16 stolen bases this season ... In the circle, Katelyn Niswonger leads the team with three wins and 60 strikeouts in a team-high 82.1 innings pitched.
Ohio Northern Batting Leaders
Batting Ave. | Hits | Runs | RBI | |||||||||||
1. | Stewart | .449 | 1. | Stewart | 40 | 1. | Stewart | 22 | 1. | Stewart | 25 | |||
2. | Loughman | .443 | 2. | Guest | 37 | 2. | Guest | 21 | 2. | Guest | 24 | |||
3. | Guest | .420 | 3. | Loughman | 35 | 3. | R. Hish | 20 | 3. | Loughman | 23 | |||
May | 20 |
Ohio Northern Pitching Leaders
Wins | ERA | Strikeouts | ||||||||
1. | Surdej | 11 | 1. | Surdej | 2.37 | 1. | Surdej | 61 | ||
2. | Anderson | 5 | 2. | Anderson | 2.60 | 2. | Anderson | 24 | ||
3. | Walters | 1 | 3. | Walters | 9.05 | 3. | Walters | 7 |
All-Time Series Notes: Ohio Northern leads the all-time series 15-1 over the Tigers ... The two teams last met in the 2017 campaign when Wittenberg defeated ONU 14-1 in the NTC Games in Clermont, Florida.
ONU Head Coach Jackie Price: Price is currently in her third season as the head softball coach at Ohio Northern ... She owns a 74-33 overall record, a .692 win percentage.