Junior Allie Bican pitches no-hitter as Softball sweeps doubleheader with John Carroll
By Wes Mayberry
ADA — Highlighted by a no-hitter from junior Allie Bican (Solon), the Ohio Northern softball team swept a doubleheader with John Carroll on Friday at the ONU Softball Field.
The Polar Bears won in run-rule fashion in both games, 9-0 in six innings in Game 1 and 10-0 in five innings in Game 2, to improve to 19-9 overall and 14-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference.
Northern takes over sole possession of first place in the conference standings with two games to play, as Muskingum sits one game back.
John Carroll falls to 13-14-2 overall and 6-9-1 in the OAC.
Bican's no-hitter came in the Game 2 victory, as she allowed one walk and had five strikeouts over the five innings to improve to 5-1 on the season.
It was the second no-hitter of her career, joining the one she threw against Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) as a freshman in the 2020 season.
It also marks Northern's second no-hitter of the 2022 season, as freshman Ashley Lenser (Brookville) no-hit Muskingum on April 15.
Lenser pitched Friday's Game 1 victory and proved just as dominant in the circle.
She allowed just two hits on a pair of bunt singles, walked one and struck out seven over all six innings to improve to 9-2 on the season.
Lenser, the reigning OAC Pitcher of the Week, has won each of her last eight starts and has posted shutouts in five of her last six outings.
Both pitchers got plenty of run support, as the Polar Bear offense amassed the 19 runs on 19 hits over the two games. Northern tallied a combined 10 extra-base hits, including three home runs.
Senior Lauren Renner (Columbus/Hilliard Bradley) led the way in Game 1, going 3-for-4 at the plate with a home run, double and four RBIs.
Senior Abby Elliott (Loveland/Ursuline) was 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs.
The Polar Bears had a four-run fourth inning highlighted by a 3-RBI double from Elliott and added three more runs in the fifth via an RBI double from senior Hannah Rubel (Swanton/Notre Dame) and a two-run homer from Renner.
Renner capped the scoring with a 2-RBI double in the sixth.
In Game 2, sophomore Kaylie Griffin (Grafton/Elyria Catholic) and junior Sydney Motylinski (Ida, Mich.) each hit a home run while Renner added a pair of doubles.
Griffin finished with a team-high three RBIs to go with two each from Renner, Motylinski and senior Rachel Hish (Gainesville, Va./Patriot).
The Polar Bears got the scoring started with a three-run third inning highlighted by an RBI single from Rubel and an RBI double from Renner.
Northern added seven more runs with two outs in the bottom of fourth in an inning that was kept alive via a JCU throwing error.
A two-run homer from Griffin followed a 2-RBI double from Hish for a 7-0 lead.
After Rubel reached on a single, Renner drove her home with a double, and Motylinski capped the scoring with a two-run homer.
Bican then sent down JCU's three batters in order to end the game in five innings.
The Polar Bears return to action on Saturday for their third doubleheader in three days as they host OAC foe Heidelberg on Senior Day at 1 p.m. looking to clinch the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.
