No. 24 Softball eliminated on second day of NCAA III Tournament with 4-1 loss to Alma (Mich.)
By Tim Glon
| NCAA III Tournament Page | NCAA III Softball Page |
DECATUR, Ill. — No. 24-ranked Ohio Northern was eliminated from the NCAA Division III Decatur Regional Softball Tournament in a 4-1 loss to Alma (Mich.) on a sunny and warm Saturday afternoon at Workman Softball Field.
The fourth-seeded Polar Bears end their season with a 24-11 overall record.
The second-seeded Scots (26-14) advance to another elimination game Saturday afternoon against third-seeded Illinois College (22-13-1).
"Participating in the NCAA Tournament was a good experience for our players," ONU head coach Jackie Price said. "We fought hard, but I think we beat ourselves in both games. We made uncharacteristic errors and were not consistent at the plate. Hopefully this will be motivation for us to come back even stronger next year."
Alma scored single runs in each of the first three innings to build a 3-0 lead.
Northern got on the board in the fourth when senior Lauren Renner (Columbus/Hilliard Bradley) scored on a throwing error to make it 3-1. With runners at first and second, freshman Taylor Hilty (Kettering/Fairmont) hit a comebacker to the mound and AC pitcher Haley Ullrich threw the ball wide of third base trying to get Renner as the lead runner, allowing Runner to easily score.
AC added an insurance run in the top of the fifth to go up 4-1 and held on for the win.
Senior Rachel Hish (Gainesville, Va./Patriot) went 2-for-4 to lead Northern's 6-hit attack.
"It was really fun to play in the NCAA Tournament," junior Sydney Motylinski (Ida, Mich.) said. "It didn't go the way we wanted but it was still a great experience. Hopefully we can get back here again next year."
Renner was named to the All-Tournament Team for her efforts.
