Late inning home runs decide outcomes as ONU splits with
Mt. Union

April 19, 2008

By Steven Wright

ALLIANCE — Danielle Goubeaux hit a solo home run that proved to be the winner in Game 2 of a doubleheader with No. 12 Mount Union, as the Ohio Northern softball team split with the Purple Raiders 3-5 and 2-1 Saturday afternoon at 23rd Street Field.

The two squads remain tied for second in the Ohio Athletic Conference with identical 10-4 conference records.

The Polar Bears are now 21-9 overall while the Purple Raiders are 27-7.

In Game 2, Tina Mangola broke a scoreless tie in the top of the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Mandi Fought who hit a triple to lead off the inning.

Northern held off the Mount Union attack in the bottom of the sixth before Goubeaux added an insurance run with her home run.

The Purple Raiders used back-to-back doubles with one out to get one run.

MUC followed the two doubles with another single, but Mangola gunned down the runner on third to prevent her from coming around to score.

The Polar Bears found themselves trailing in Game 1 1-0 until the top of the fifth inning when the top of the lineup provided some offense.

With one out, Fought doubled and Mangola reached on an error before Liz Decima roped an RBI double.

Mangola advanced to third base on Decima’s two-base hit and later scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Cortney Cash.

The score remained tied 3-3 until the bottom of the seventh inning and two outs when Mount Union’s Meghan Allen jacked a walk-off two-run homer to end the game.

Cash (11-5) and Lindsey Royer (18-4) pitched every inning for their respective teams, each picking up a win and a loss on the day.

Goubeaux was the only Polar Bear to record multiple hits in each game, going 4-for-6 with the home run, RBI and a double.

The Polar Bears will host non-conference opponent Denison on Tuesday at 3:30 pm at the ONU Softball Field.