Freshman Ashley Lenser pitches, hits Softball to split with OAC foe Wilmington

By Tim Glon

ADA — Freshman Ashley Lenser (Brookville) got it done at the plate and in the circle on Wednesday, leading the Ohio Northern softball team to a double header split with Ohio Athletic Conference foe Wilmington at the ONU Softball Field.

The Polar Bears (9-7 overall, 5-1 OAC) won the opener 3-0, while the Quakers (8-6, 2-2) took the night cap 8-4.

Lenser was brilliant in the circle in game one, throwing a 2-hit shutout with a career-high 10 strikeouts. She also went 1-for-2 with an RBI at the plate in the opener.

Northern grabbed a 1-0 lead in the home half of the third inning when senior Abby Elliott (Loveland/Ursuline) singled and eventually scored on a ground out.

ONU got a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth when sophomore Kaylie Griffin (Grafton/Elyria Catholic) scored on a ground ball by senior Lauren Renner (Columbus/Hilliard Bradley).

Lenser followed that with a RBI single to score freshman pinch-runner Mariana Alejandro (Gibsonburg) to make it 3-0.

In Game 2, WC used four ONU errors to build an 8-0 lead and held on for an 8-4 win.

Elliott belted a 2-run home run to cap a 3-run fourth inning to get Northern within 8-3.

Lenser later made it 8-4 with a RBI double in the sixth which scored junior Sydney Motylinski (Ida, Mich.)

Lenser finished the day 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI. Elliott also collected three hits on the day, going 3-for-7, with her two-run dinger.

The Polar Bears will return to action on Saturday when they entertain John Carroll in an OAC double header at 1 pm at the ONU Softball Firld.