Softball: Capital (6-12 Overall, 2-0 OAC) at Ohio Northern (15-3 Overall, 1-1 OAC)
Friday, Mar. 30, 2018 - 1 p.m. - ONU Softball Field - Ada, Ohio
Preview: The Ohio Northern softball team enters Friday afternoon's double header with Capital after sweeping Wooster on Wednesday afternoon ... Junior Kaitlin Surdej and senior Kirsten Lightel each pitched complete game shutout victories in the two contests for ONU ... 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 .538 batting average ... Hollar also leads the team with 35 hits and ranks third in the OAC in the category, while her 24 runs scored leads the team OAC ... Hollar also leads the conference and team with 21 stolen bases and ranks seventh nationally with 1.25 stolen bases per contest ... Sophomore Gabby Stewart currently ranks second on the team in hits (19) and batting average (.358) and leads the team and ranks fifth in the OAC with 18 RBI ... On the pitchers mound, Lightel leads the team and is tied for first in the OAC with eight victories, while Surdej is second on the team and tied for third in the OAC with seven victories ... Lightel's 1.52 ERA leads the team and ranks third in the OAC, while her 66 K's lead the team and are tied for first in the OAC ... Capital enters the contest winners of four straight ... The Crusaders are led at the plate by senior Bailey Walter's 22 hits, while sophomore Cory Mangen ranks second on the team with 20 hits ... Freshman Alyx Slusher currently has a team-best 11 RBI, while Walter leads the team with a .379 batting average ... Junior Brianna Reardon leads the pitching staff with five victories in the pitchers circle and has a team-high 29 K's.
Batting Leaders
| Batting Ave. | Hits | Runs | RBI | |||||||||||
| 1. | Hollar | .538 | 1. | Hollar | 35 | 1. | Hollar | 24 | 1. | Stewart | 18 | |||
| 2. | Stewart | .358 | 2. | Stewart | 19 | 2. | Huddle | 10 | 2. | Guest | 9 | |||
| 3. | Guest | .355 | 3. | Swierz | 14 | 3. | Swierz | 9 | 3. | Huddle | 7 | |||
| Swierz | 7 |
Pitching Leaders
| Wins | ERA | Strikeouts | ||||||||
| 1. | Lightel | 8 | 1. | Lightel | 1.52 | 1. | Lightel | 66 | ||
| 2. | Surdej | 7 | 2. | Surdej | 2.63 | 2. | Surdej | 41 |
Series Notes: The Polar Bears lead the all-time series by a 42-30 margin ... Capital swept the season series last year and has won three of the last four contests in the series.
ONU head coach Jackie Price: Price is in her second season as head coach of the Polar Bears and owns an 40-16 record, a winning percentage of .714.
