Softball beats No. 25 Mount Union and falls to Baldwin Wallace in extra innings on first day of OAC Tournament

Softball beats No. 25 Mount Union and falls to Baldwin Wallace in extra innings on first day of OAC Tournament
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May 9, 2024

ALLIANCE — The Ohio Northern softball team split games on the first day of play at the 2024 Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament at Mount Union.

The No. 4 seeded Polar Bears beat top-seeded and No. 25-ranked Mount Union in the first game, 5-2. ONU then lost to No. 3 Baldwin Walace in the second game of the day, 9-5.

| OAC Tournament site |

The Basics

  • Records: Ohio Northern (23-19 overall, 10-8 OAC), #25 Mount Union (32-7 overall, 15-1 OAC), Baldwin Wallace (24-14 overall, 11-5 OAC).
  • Venue: 23rd Street Softball Field - Alliance, Ohio.

Game 1 - W, 5-2

  • Ohio Northern scored all five of their runs in the top of the third inning on their way to a 5-2 win.
  • Junior Callie Rosser (Republic/Monroeville) scored first off an error by Mount Union.
  • Junior Ashley Lenser (Brookville) also scored off another MTU error to make the score 2-0.
  • Sophomore Allie Wilson (Wapakoneta) finished off the inning with a three-run homer, scoring fifth-year senior Sydney Motylinski (Ida, Mich.) and junior Mariana Alejandro (Gibsonburg) to make the score 5-0.
  • The Purple Raiders answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the third inning.
  • Lenser pitched a complete game for the Polar Bears, striking out six.
  • MTU out-hit ONU 9-4.

Game 2 - L, 5-9 (8 innings)

  • Baldwin Wallace jumped to a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
  • In the bottom of the third inning, Motylinski doubled to score senior Kaylie Griffin (Grafton/Elyria Catholic).
  • Motylinski then scored along with Wilson on a double by freshman Carlie Schroeder (Wapakoneta) making the score 3-3.
  • BW scored again in the top of the fifth inning, but Motylinski answered with a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning to make the score 5-4.
  • Baldwin Wallace scored one run in the top of the seventh, forcing an extra inning where they scored four more runs, making the score 9-5.
  • Lenser pitched another complete game, striking out four.
  • BW out-hit ONU 11-10.

Notables

  • The double-elimination tournament was slated to get underway on Thursday, but both games that day were postponed due to rain.
  • The teams then scheduled to play Games 1-4 on Friday.
  • Motylinski now has 150 career base hits and 109 career RBIs. She ranks 8th all-time in ONU history with her 109 RBIs.
  • Wilson, Alejandro and Rosser lead Ohio Northern in batting through 42 games this season with averages of .381, .357 and .351, respectively.
  • Lenser is now 12-5 on the season with a 2.12 ERA and 99 strikeouts.
  • In her career, Lenser is 34-16 with a 1.90 ERA and 229 strikeouts. She ranks tied for 9th all-time at ONU in wins, 7th in ERA, and 6th in strikeouts.
  • The Polar Bears finished in fourth place in the OAC Regular Season standings with a 10-8 record.
  • Ohio Northern is in its 57th season of softball. The Polar Bears are 995-679-4 all-time, a winning percentage of .593.
  • Seventh-year head coach Jackie Price is now 177-111-1 at Ohio Northern for a winning percentage of .612.

Up Next

  • The Polar Bears will play the winner of the Muskingum and Mount Union game in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament at Mount Union on Saturday.