Softball splits games with Ohio Wesleyan and Wittenberg on final day of ONU Invitational
March 22, 2026
ADA — The Ohio Northern softball team split games against Ohio Wesleyan and Wittenberg on Sunday on the final day of the ONU Invitational.
The Polar Bears opened the day with a 6-2 win over Ohio Wesleyan and wrapped up the tournament with a 6-3 loss to Wittenberg.
The Basics
- Records: Ohio Northern (6-8 Overall), Ohio Wesleyan (4-10 Overall), Wittenberg (8-6 Overall).
- Venue: Durbin-Hileman Stadium — Ada, Ohio.
Ohio Wesleyan Game — W, 6-2
- The Polar Bears kicked off the game with two runs in the bottom of the first.
- Freshman Ellie Mason (New Philadelphia) hit a sacrifice fly to score freshman Alexa Ray (Worthington/Bishop Watterson), and freshman Natalie Gonzalez (San Diego, Calif./Bonita Vista) hit an RBI single.
- Ohio Wesleyan scored one run in the second and one more run in the fifth inning to tie the game up 2-2.
- Northern answered with four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to reclaim the lead.
- Sophomore Mackenzie Hannahs (Alexandria/Northridge) singled to left field to score sophomore Alyssa Hochstetler (Akron/Springfield).
- Hannahs then stole second, leading to a throwing error that scored Ray.
- Sophomore Lillie Marker (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage) doubled to left center to score Hannahs.
- Mason hit an RBI double to score the Polar Bear's sixth run.
- Gonzalez (2-1) pitched a complete game with two strikeouts to earn the win in the circle for ONU.
- ONU out-hit OWU 8-7.
Wittenberg Game — L, 3-6
- Northern scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the first inning, starting with Hannahs scoring on a wild pitch after being walked.
- Junior Carlie Schroeder (Wapakoneta) reached first on a throwing error by the second baseman, which scored Mason and Marker.
- Wittenberg scored one run in the second inning, then two more runs in the third inning to tie the game up.
- The game remained tied for three innings until the Tigers scored three more runs in the top of the sixth.
- Sophomore Avery Neth (Williamsburg) (2-2) started in the circle and pitched 4.0 innings.
- WU out-hit ONU 13-3.
Notables
- The ONU Invitational features six teams and has 11 games running from Friday to Sunday.
- The teams competing in the Invitational are Alma (Mich.), Hope (Mich.), Mount St. Joseph, Ohio Wesleyan and Wittenberg.
- Ohio Northern is now 10-6 all-time against Ohio Wesleyan and 16-4 all-time against Wittenberg.
- Mason leads the team in batting at .364, followed by Marker (.342) and Ray (.340).
- Senior Allie Wilson (Wapakoneta) is 24th all-time at ONU with 135 career base hits.
- Wilson needs just one home run and 8 RBIs to break into ONU's top-10 lists in those categories.
- Ohio Northern is in its 59th season of softball. The Polar Bears are 1,022-711-4 all-time, a winning percentage of .588.
- Head coach Summer Collins is in her second season at Ohio Northern with a 26-31 record.
Up Next
- The Polar Bears will return to action on Tuesday when they host a doubleheader with No. 2-ranked Trine (Ind.) at Durbin-Hileman Stadium at 3 p.m.
