Softball: Muskingum (23-9 Overall, 9-7 OAC) at Ohio Northern (26-6 Overall, 12-4 OAC)
Saturday, Apr. 28, 2018 - 1 p.m. - ONU Softball Field - Ada, Ohio
Preview: Saturday's pivotal double header with Muskingum is the Ohio Athletic Conference season finale for both teams and will prove to be one of the biggest double headers this season ... Northern has already locked up a top-3 seed in this year's OAC Tournament, and sits in second place in the OAC standings ... One game separates Ohio Northern and Otterbein for the top seed in the conference, while Heidelberg sits one game behind Northern in the standings ... Northern enters the matchup after sweeping Marietta to clinch a top-3 seed ... Through 32 games for Northern, senior Jenna Hollar leads the team and OAC with a .478 batting average ... The all-time steals leader at Ohio Northern became ONU's single-season steals leader in the victories over Marietta, surpassing former Polar Bear Mandi Fought for the most all-time at ONU in a single season ... Hollar leads the OAC with 36 stolen bases and ranks fourth nationally with 1.13 stolen bases per contest ... Her 54 hits lead the team and rank second in the OAC ... Sophomore Gabby Stewart leads the team and is tied for second in the OAC with 35 RBI ... Sophomore Brady Guest is second on the team and fourth in the OAC with a .444 BA ... In the pitchers circle, senior Kirsten Lightel leads the OAC in ERA (1.42) and wins (14) ... Junior Kaitlin Surdej is second on the team and third in the OAC in ERA (2.43) and wins (12) ... Lightel also leads the team and ranks third in the OAC with 106 K's ... Muskingum enters the contest riding a 3-game winning streak ... Offensively, junior Krissy Hughes leads the team and ranks second in the OAC with a .474 BA ... Hughes also leads the OAC with 55 hits this season ... Senior Haylea Debolt leads the team and is tied for second in the OAC with 35 RBI ... Debolt leads the pitching staff and ranks fifth in the OAC with a 2.51 ERA ... Junior Rachel Eberling leads the staff with 49 K's, while freshman Hannah Duff has a team-best 10 victories.
Batting Leaders
| Batting Ave. | Hits | Runs | RBI | |||||||||||
| 1. | Hollar | .478 | 1. | Hollar | 54 | 1. | Hollar | 44 | 1. | Stewart | 35 | |||
| 2. | Stewart | .444 | 2. | Stewart | 42 | 2. | Swierz | 21 | 2. | Guest | 27 | |||
| 3. | Guest | .438 | 3. | Guest | 32 | 3. | Stewart | 19 | 3. | Loughman | 18 |
Pitching Leaders
| Wins | ERA | Strikeouts | ||||||||
| 1. | Lightel | 14 | 1. | Lightel | 1.42 | 1. | Lightel | 106 | ||
| 2. | Surdej | 12 | 2. | Surdej | 2.43 | 2. | Surdej | 62 |
Series Notes: Muskingum owns a 69-47 lead in the all-time series ... ONU swept the series last season on the road ... Northern has won four of the last six matchups.
ONU head coach Jackie Price: Price is in her second season as head coach of the Polar Bears and owns an 51-19 record, a winning percentage of .718.
