Softball wins OAC Regular Season championship with sweep of Heidelberg

By Wes Mayberry

ADA — The Ohio Northern softball team won the Ohio Athletic Conference Regular Season championship on Saturday, sweeping a doubleheader with Heidelberg by scores of 6-3 and 2-1 on Senior Day at the ONU Softball Field.

The Polar Bears improve to 21-9 overall and finished with a 16-2 record in the OAC.

Northern entered Saturday with a one-game lead over Muskingum in the standings and secured the conference title with its Game 1 win over Heidelberg (20-16 overall, 9-9 OAC) after the Muskies split their doubleheader with Wilmington.

This marks the Polar Bears' 11th regular-season conference title in program history. It is their first regular-season conference championship since they were co-champs in 2014 and first outright title since 2012.

"This is a long time coming for us," sixth-year head coach Jackie Price said. "This has been something that has been on our docket for a while and is something we've worked tirelessly for, and for us to be able to be consistent enough and handle our business this year is phenomenal."

Northern enters the OAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed and will serve as the host site for all games.

The Polar Bears will open the double-elimination tournament against No. 4 seed Otterbein on Friday at approximately 12 p.m. following the matchup between No. 2 seed Muskingum and No. 3 seed Mount Union, which begins at 10 a.m.

ONU will open postseason play on a roll as winners of 11 of its last 12 games.

Saturday's victories were sparked by solid outings in the circle from senior Stacey Walters (Sunbury/Big Walnut) and freshman Ashley Lenser (Brookville).

Now 4-2 on the season, Walters allowed three runs on six hits and one walk while striking out six over six innings before being relieved by Lenser, who earned a save after pitching the final frame in Game 1.

Lenser then pitched all eight innings of the second game, allowing one run on four hits while walking none and striking out five to improve to 10-2.

"Our pitching staff has been phenomenal throughout the year. I can throw any of our pitchers on any single day, and I know I can trust them to get it done," Price said. "I can't say enough about our pitching, and our defense has been phenomenal as well."

Fitting for Senior Day, it was senior Lauren Renner (Columbus/Hilliard Bradley) who delivered the walk-off hit in the bottom of the eighth inning of Game 2.

With the score tied at 1-all, sophomore Kaylie Griffin (Grafton/Elyria Catholic) and senior Hannah Rubel (Swanton/Notre Dame) hit back-to-back one-out singles, putting runners on first and second for Renner.

Renner proceeded to hit a pitch into center field that brought Griffin home from second to secure the victory.

"Our seniors found a way to get it done, and it's good to see that we're battling and coming out on top," Price said.

In what was a pitchers' duel between Lenser and HU's Maggie Hoffman, the Student Princes scored first on an RBI single from Emma Dean in the top of the first inning.

An RBI single from junior Sydney Motylinski (Ida, Mich.) plated the tying run in the bottom of the fourth, setting up Renner's late-game heroics.

Renner and Griffin each finished with a team-high two hits in the game.

Griffin was also a major force in Game 1, finishing with three hits, including a double and home run, and three RBIs.

Renner and Lenser added two hits each.

After the Student Princes scored a run in the top of the first inning, Northern answered with Griffin's three-run homer in the bottom of the frame for an early lead.

Motylinski and freshman Taylor Hilty (Kettering/Fairmont) added RBIs in the third and fifth innings, respectively, putting ONU up 5-1.

HU plated a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to get within 5-3 but was unable to get any closer.

Northern capped the scoring when Griffin came home in the bottom of the sixth on an HU error that allowed Renner to reach base.