Senior Abby Elliott records 100th career hit as Softball sweeps doubleheader at Otterbein
By Wes Mayberry
WESTERVILLE — Senior Abby Elliott (Loveland/Ursuline) recorded her 100th career hit on Wednesday as the Ohio Northern softball team swept both games of a doubleheader against Otterbein, winning 9-1 and 2-1 at Otterbein Softball Field.
The Polar Bears improve to 12-8 overall and 8-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Cardinals fall to 20-8, 7-5.
Sitting on 99 career hits, Elliott didn't waste any time getting No. 100, as she led off the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader with a single.
That hit enshrined her into ONU's 100-Hit Club, making her the 42nd member of the group just five days after fellow senior Rachel Hish (Gainesville, Va./Patriot) became member No. 41.
Hish followed Elliott's single with a single of her own, sparking a four-run first inning for ONU.
Senior Hannah Rubel (Swanton/Notre Dame) hit a one-out RBI single, and Hish later scored via an Otterbein error.
Junior Sydney Motylinski (Ida, Mich.) made it a 4-0 lead with her two-out, 2-RBI double.
That proved to be more than enough run support for freshman pitcher Ashley Lenser (Brookville).
Coming off Friday's no-hitter against Muskingum, Lenser continued her high-level pitching against OU, holding the Cardinals to just the one run on three hits and four walks while striking out two over all six innings to improve to 6-2 on the season.
Northern added four more runs to its tally in the top of the fifth courtesy of an RBI double from freshman Taylor Hilty (Kettering/Fairmont), an RBI single from junior Lauren Walls (Grove City) and a two-run homer from Elliott.
Hilty capped the scoring with an RBI single in the sixth.
Elliott finished the game 3-for-5 at the plate with two RBIs, while Hish was 4-for-4.
Senior Lauren Renner (Columbus/Hilliard Bradley) was 2-for-4 with three runs scored.
After notching 15 hits in the opener, offense wasn't as easy to come by for Northern in Game 2. But the Polar Bears tallied five hits and brought home just enough runs to get the victory.
ONU's strong pitching carried over into the nightcap, as junior Allie Bican (Solon) improved to 2-1 on the season after giving up just the one run on five hits and four walks while striking out five as she outdueled Otterbein's Jess Gunter.
The Polar Bears' two-run first inning proved to be all the run support Bican would need.
Elliott opened the game by reaching base via a hit-by-pitch, and sophomore Kaylie Griffin (Grafton/Elyria Catholic) later added a one-out single.
A wild pitch put runners on second and third, and Renner brought Elliott home with a two-out single. Motylinski followed with an RBI single of her own for the 2-0 lead.
OU cut its deficit in half with a run in the bottom of the third, but the game went scoreless the rest of the way as Northern earned the victory.
The Polar Bears return to action on Saturday for a doubleheader at Capital beginning at 1 p.m., as Thursday's home doubleheader with Baldwin Wallace has been postponed to Sunday.