Softball splits first two games of OAC Tournament Finals opener at Muskingum, setting up a winner-take-all Game 3 on Sunday
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio Northern | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 2 |
| Muskingum | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muskingum | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 2 |
| Ohio Northern | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
Team Stats
Game 2
Muskingum
By Tim Glon
NEW CONCORD — Fourth-seeded Ohio Northern split a pair of games at second-seeded Muskingum in the Finals of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament on Saturday at Newberry Field.
The Polar Bears (23-18-1 overall) won the opener 7-0 and the Muskies (29-13) took the nightcap 6-3.
ONU and MU are tied 1-1 in the best 2-out-of-3 series for the championship and will play the deciding Game 3 on Sunday at 1 pm at Muskingum.
In Game 1, the Polar Bears scored five unearned runs in the top of the third inning, getting three consecutive 2-out RBI hits, to go up 5-0.
Junior Lauren Renner (Columbus/Hilliard Bradley) started the scoring with a one-out sacrifice fly to plate sophomore Annika Murray (Hilliard/Bradley) to make it 1-0.
Sophomore Sydney Motylinski (Ida, Mich.) and senior Alicia Swierz (Deerfield/Southeast) had back-to-back RBI singles and senior Gabby Stewart (Sunbury/Big Walnut) followed with a 2-run single to put ONU up 5-0.
Renner had a 2-run double in the top of the seventh to add a pair of insurance runs.
Junior Stacey Walters (Sunbury/Big Walnut) threw a 5-hit shutout with three strikeouts to improve to 14-5 in the circle.
In Game 2, the Muskies turned the tables, scoring five runs in the top of the first inning to go up 5-0.
Northern battled back in the bottom of the first, loading the bases with none out.
Renner drew a bases loaded walk to make it 5-1 and Swierz followed with a sacrifice fly to get ONU within 5-2.
MU tacked on an insurance run in the third to go up 6-2.
Junior Rachel Hish (Alexandria, Va./Patroit) had an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to score Murray to wrap up the scoring.
The series winner will receive the OAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.