Softball splits games against Western New England, Benedictine on second day of spring break trip

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The Ohio Northern softball team continued its spring break trip with a win over Western New England (Mass.) and a loss to Benedictine (Ill.) on Monday.

The Polar Bears opened the day with a 3-2 victory over Western New England (Mass.) and wrapped the day up with an 8-0 loss to Benedictine (Ill.).

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (2-2 Overall), Western New England (2-1 Overall), Benedictine (4-1 Overall).
• Venue: Fortune Road — Kissimmee, Fla.

Western New England Game - W, 3-2

• The Polar Bears kicked off scoring in the bottom of the first with a sacrifice fly from sophomore Lillie Marker (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage) scoring freshman Alexa Ray (Worthington/Bishop Watterson).
• WNE tied the game up 1-1 in the top of the fifth inning.
• Sophomore Kylie Pytlak (Bloomingdale, Ill./Lake Park) hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to retake the lead, 3-1.
• The Golden Bears score one run in the top of the seventh, but fell short of a comeback.
• Pytlak went 2-for-3 with two hits, two RBIs and one run to lead ONU.
• Freshman Brooklyn Osterloh (Minster) (1-1) got the win in the circle, striking out three and only allowing one hit and one run in 2.2 innings.
• Freshman Sydney Freiberg (Yorkville, Ill.) pitched the other 4.1 innings and had one strikeout.
• ONU out-hit WNE 6-5.

Benedictine Game - L, 8-0 (5 innings)

• The game was called after five innings due to the NCAA's 8-run rule.
• Benedictine scored a run in each of the first three innings to take a 3-0 lead.
• The Eagles then scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth and three runs in the bottom of the fifth.
• Sophomore Mackenzie Hannahs (Alexandria/Northridge) went 1-for-1 with Northern's lone hit.
• Freshman Natalie Gonzalez (San Diego, Calif./Bonita Vista) (0-1) started in the circle for the Polar Bears and recorded one strikeout.
• BU out-hit ONU 11-1.

Notables

• The Polar Bears are slated to play 10 games this week in The Spring Games tournament.
• Senior Allie Wilson (Wapakoneta) is tied for 26th all-time at ONU with 129 career base hits.
• Wilson needs just one home run and 8 RBI to break into ONU's top-10 lists in those categories.
• Ohio Northern is in its 59th season of softball. The Polar Bears are 1,018-705-4 all-time, a winning percentage of .591.
• Head coach Summer Collins is in her second season at Ohio Northern with a 22-25 record.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will return to action Tuesday afternoon with games against Loras (Iowa) at 12:15 pm, and St. Scholastica (Minn.) at 2:45 pm.