Senior Allie Bican leads Softball to doubleheader split with Calvin (Mich.)

By Wes Mayberry

ADA — Senior Allie Bican (Solon) led the Ohio Northern softball team to a Game 2 victory in a doubleheader split with Calvin (Mich.) on Thursday at the ONU Softball Field.

Sparked by Bican's arm and bat, the Polar Bears (9-7 overall) won the second game 6-4 after falling 5-1 to the Knights (12-6 overall) in Game 1.

Trailing 3-0 in the second game, Northern exploded on offense in the bottom of the fifth inning. The entire lineup got an at-bat, and the Polar Bears plated six runs that ended up giving them the lead for good.

Sophomore Taylor Hilty (Kettering/Fairmont) led off the inning with a single, and sophomore Callie Rosser (Republic/Monroeville) got ONU on the scoreboard with a one-out RBI single.

Senior Lauren Walls (Grove City) followed with a game-tying two-run homer to center field.

Fifth-year senior Abby Elliott (Loveland/Ursuline) continued the offensive surge with a single and came home on a two-out double from freshman Allie Wilson (Wapakoneta) to put ONU up 4-3.

After a Calvin pitching change, Bican extended the Polar Bear lead to 6-3 with a two-run homer. That was Bican's second home run in as many days.

Bican protected that lead over the final two innings, allowing just one run in the seventh after pitching a 1-2-3 sixth with two strikeouts.

Bican improved to 4-4 on the season after giving up the four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out eight on 131 pitches. She now has 202 career strikeouts, which ranks eighth all-time at ONU.

The Polar Bears out-hit the Knights 10-6 in the game and got two hits each from Rosser, Walls, Elliott and Wilson.

Hannah Biddlecome had two hits for Calvin, and Carley Dole had a two-run home run.

Northern was held to three hits in Game 1 and scored its lone run on an RBI double from junior Kaylie Griffin (Grafton/Elyria Catholic) in the bottom of the first inning.

The Knights' offense was sparked by Dole, who had two hits, including a seventh-inning solo homer.

CU pitcher Kristen Krause pitched all seven innings and improved to 4-4 on the season.

ONU sophomore pitcher Ashley Lenser (Brookville) also went the distance, giving up just three earned runs on five hits and two walks to go with one strikeout.

The Polar Bears return to action on Saturday to open Ohio Athletic Conference play with a doubleheader at Marietta beginning at 1 p.m.