No. 4 Softball wraps up 2010 regular season with split at Mount Union
By Tim Glon
ALLIANCE -- The No. 4-ranked Ohio Northern softball team wrapped up its 2010 regular season with a doubleheader split Saturday afternoon at Mount Union.
The Polar Bears (35-3 overall, 17-1 Ohio Athletic Conference) won the second game 2-1 after dropping the opener 8-4 to the Purple Raiders (25-13, 13-5).
Ohio Northern will be the top seed and host the 2010 OAC Tournament Friday and Saturday at the ONU Softball Field by virtue of winning its third OAC Regular Season title in the past four seasons.
ONU will face fourth-seeded Muskingum Friday at 1 pm in the first round. Second-seeded Mt. Union will face third-seeded John Carroll in the opening game at 11 am.
In Game 1 on Saturday, Senior All-American Tina Mangola blasted a 3-run home run to give ONU a 4-3 lead, but Mt Union rallied to tie the game at 4-4 and then scored four times in the bottom of the sixth to put the game away.
After MtU scored three times in the bottom of the first, freshman Chrissy Rankin had an RBI single in the top of the second to trim the deficit to 3-1.
Tina Mangola then drilled her home run to deep left field in the top of the third to give the visitors a 4-3 advantage.
But Mount tied it with a run in the fourth and won it with their 4-run sixth.
In Game 2, sophomore Jackie Mangola had an RBI double in the top of the first and Tina Mangola had an RBI single in the top of the third as ONU built a 2-0 lead.
Sophomore Lauren Hurd (4-1) made it stand up, striking out eight and earning the complete game victory.
Tina Mangola finished the day 4 for 6 with four RBI to lead the ONU offense.
Northern's double header at Wittenberg, scheduled for Monday, has been canceled.
