Softball: Ohio Northern (13-3 Overall) at Wooster (7-9 Overall)
Wednesday, Mar. 28, 2018 - 3:30 p.m. - Galpin Park - Wooster, Ohio
Preview: The Ohio Northern softball team enters Wednesday afternoon's non-conference double header at Wooster after sweeping Hanover (Ind.) on Monday afternoon ... Junior Kaitlin Surdej threw a 4-hit shutout for ONU in Game 1 and sophomore Brady Guest drilled a 2-run home run to lead Ohio Northern in Game 2 ... Northern's solid start is fueled offensively by senior Jenna Hollar's fast start ... The all-time steals leader for the Polar Bears currently leads the team and ranks second in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a .544 batting average ... Hollar also leads the team with 31 hits and ranks third in the OAC in the category, while her 22 runs scored leads the team and is tied for the second best mark in the league ... Hollar also leads the conference and team with 20 stolen bases and ranks seventh nationally with 1.25 stolen bases per contest ... Sophomore Gabby Stewart currently ranks second on the team in hits (17) and batting average (.362) and leads the team with 15 RBI ... On the pitchers mound, senior Kirsten Lightel leads the team and is tied for second in the OAC with seven victories, while Surdej is second on the team and tied for fourth in the OAC with six victories ... Lightel's 1.70 ERA leads the team and ranks third in the OAC, while her 59 K's lead the team and rank second in the OAC ... Wooster enters the contest after competing in the Spring Games in Kissimmee, Fla. and winning three of its last five contests during the trip ... During their 16-game schedule in Florida, senior Maddy Chase led the team with 26 hits, including 10 doubles ... Freshman Emmalee Cooke led the team with a .462 batting average, while Chase was second on the team with a .441 batting average and sophomore Marina Roski was third on the team with a .418 BA ... Cooke ranks second on the team with 24 hits, while Roski is third on the team with 23 hits ... Roski has a team-best four home runs and leads the squad with 14 RBI ... Chase is also Wooster's leader in the pitchers circle, posting a team-high 26 K's during the Scots' spring break trip ... The tandem of freshmen Marissa Norgrove and Olivia Johnson posted three victories each in the pitchers circle to lead Wooster.
Batting Leaders
| Batting Ave. | Hits | Runs | RBI | |||||||||||
| 1. | Hollar | .544 | 1. | Hollar | 31 | 1. | Hollar | 22 | 1. | Stewart | 15 | |||
| 2. | Stewart | .362 | 2. | Stewart | 17 | 2. | Huddle | 10 | 2. | Huddle | 7 | |||
| 3. | Guest | .346 | 3. | Huddle | 12 | 3. | Swierz | 7 | Guest | 7 |
Pitching Leaders
| Wins | ERA | Strikeouts | ||||||||
| 1. | Lightel | 7 | 1. | Lightel | 1.70 | 1. | Lightel | 59 | ||
| 2. | Surdej | 6 | 2. | Surdej | 2.96 | 2. | Surdej | 38 |
Series Notes: Ohio Northern is a perfect 3-0 all-time against the Scots ...Northern swept a double header at the ONU Softball Field last season, the first meeting between the two schools since ONU defeated Wooster 27-3 in the first ever meeting between the schools in 1974.
ONU head coach Jackie Price: Price is in her second season as head coach of the Polar Bears and owns an 38-16 record, a winning percentage of .704.