Softball grabs final spot in OAC Tournament with split at Heidelberg on final day of regular season

TIFFIN — The Ohio Northern softball team clinched the fourth and final spot in next week's Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament with a double header split at Heidelberg in the regular season finale on Saturday.

The host Student Princes won the opener 5-2 and the Polar Bears clinched their spot in the OAC Tournament with a 12-8 victory in the nightcap.

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (22-18 overall, 10-8 OAC), Heidelberg (14-26 overall, 7-11 OAC).
• Venue: Frann's Field - Tiffin, Ohio.

Game 1 - L, 2-5

• Heidelberg scored two runs in the fourth and two more in the sixth to rally from a 2-1 deficit and grab the win in the opener.
• Juniors Ashley Lenser (Brookville) and Mariana Alejandro (Gibsonburg) each had two hits at the top of the lineup for ONU in the contest.
• Lenser also allowed three earned runs and struck out five in 6.0 innings in the circle to fall to 11-4 on the season.
• Each team had seven hits in the game.

Game 2 - W, 12-8

• Northern jumped to a quick 6-0 lead with three runs in each of the first two frames.
• Sophomore Allie Wilson (Wapakoneta) keyed the second frame scoring with a 2-run double.
• Northern made it 8-2 with two runs in the fourth then scored four more in the fifth to go ahead 12-2.
• The Student Princes sent 11 batters to the plate in a 6-run fifth inning to get within 12-8.
• Lenser came on in relief in the fifth and worked the final 3.0 innings to earn her fourth career save.
• Senior Kayla Runyon (Tipp City) pitched the first four innings to get the win and improve to 6-9 in the circle.
• Alejandro was 4-for-5 with four runs scored, while senior Kaylie Griffin (Grafton/Elyria Catholic) had three hits and three RBI and Wilson had three hits and four RBI for Ohio Northern.
• ONU out-hit HU 13-12.

Notables

• Alejandro finished the day 6-for-9 with a double, triple and four runs scored.
• Fifth-year senior Sydney Motylinski (Ida, Mich.) now has 148 career base hits and 105 career RBIs. She ranks 9th all-time in ONU history with her 105 RBIs.
• Wilson, Alejandro and junior Callie Rosser (Republic/Monroeville) lead Ohio Northern in batting through 40 games this season with averages of .392, .367 and .365, respectively.
• ONU is now 65-22-1 all-time against Heidelberg, including a 20-14-1 mark in Tiffin.
• Ohio Northern has clinched its 11th consecutive winning season.
• The Polar Bears finished in fourth place in the OAC Regular Season standings with a 10-8 record and will be the No. 4 seed in the 4-team OAC Tournament Thursday-Saturday at Mount Union.
• Ohio Northern is in its 57th season of softball. The Polar Bears are 994-678-4 all-time, a winning percentage of .593.
• Seventh-year head coach Jackie Price is now 176-110-1 at Ohio Northern for a winning percentage of .614.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will compete in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament at Mount Union Thursday-Saturday.