Ohio Northern spring sports teams are in full swing this week. Here’s a summary of softball, baseball, women’s tennis and women’s lacrosse contests.
Softball
PLANT CITY, Fla. — The Ohio Northern softball team exploded for 18 runs and 23 base hits in a 10-1 victory over Randolph (Va.) and an 8-0 victory over Saint Joseph's (Maine) on Monday at the Sunkissed Games.
The Polar Bears improve to 2-2, while the WildCats fall to 5-4 and the Monks fall to 1-3.
Junior Brady Guest (Convoy/Crestview) went 5-for-7 with a home run and 6 RBI in the two games to lead the Polar Bear offense.
Guest hit a 3-run home run and had four RBI as the Polar Bears topped Randolph in six innings due to the NCAA's 8-run rule in the first game of the day.
Northern scored in five of the six innings and pounded out 13 base hits in the win.
Senior Kaitlin Surdej (Lancaster, N.Y./Central) scattered seven hits and struck out two to earn the complete game victory and improve to 1-1 on the season.
In game two against Saint Joseph's, freshman Kara May (Saint Marys/Spencerville ) was 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI and Guest was 2-for-3 with 2 RBI for ONU.
Northern scored twice in the second and third innings and got three more in the fourth to take a 7-0 lead.
Freshman Rachel Hish (Gainesville, Va/Patriot) had an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to make it 8-0 and end the game due to the NCAA's 8-run rule.
Freshman Madison Anderson (Akron/Ellet) threw a 2-hit shutout, striking out two, to earn the win in her first career appearance.
Baseball
AUBURNDALE, Fla. — It was deja vu all over again for the the Ohio Northern baseball team on Monday.
The Polar Bears (1-2 overall) dropped a pair of 4-3 games in extra innings to Coe (Iowa) at Lake Myrtle Park as part of the Russ Matt Invitational.
Northern scored three times in the fifth inning in both games and the Kohawks (5-0) plated a run in the eighth inning in each game to complete the sweep.
In the first game of the day, senior Caleb Thomas (Strongsville) drilled a 3-run home run to give ONU a 3-2 lead, but CC answered a run in the top of the seventh to send the game into extra innings and a run in the eighth to grab the win.
Coe score twice in the first and once more in the third to take a 3-0 lead in Game 2, only to see the Polar Bears again score three times in the fifth.
Northern's two-out rally was keyed by a RBI double by sophomore Will Davis (Upper Arlington/Bishop Watterson) and a 2-run single by freshman Chayton Overholt (Delphos/Lincolnview) to tie the score at 3-3.
But the Kohawks got a two-out single in the bottom of the eighth to grab the nightcap by the identical 4-3 score.
Women’s tennis
PRESS & GLENDALE, Calif. -- The Ohio Northern women's tennis squad opened its 2019 Spring Break trip to the Los Angeles metropolitan area on Monday with an 8-1 victory at Cypress (Calif.) Community College and a tight 5-4 loss at NCAA Division III foe Occidental (Calif.)
The Polar Bears improve to 6-1 on the season, while Cypress falls to 0-7 overall and Occidental improves to 2-4.
Senior Ashley Ochsenhirt (Birmingham, Ala./Briarwood Christian) and junior Mackenzie Wills (Ada) each went 4-0 on the day to lead ONU.
In the day's opening match, Northern swept all six singles slots and claimed two of the three doubles matches to roll past Cypress 8-1.
Junior Katie Curry (Oxford/Talawanda) led the Polar Bears with a 6-0, 6-0 triumph in the No. 5 slot.
Meanwhile, classmates Jordan Dodson (Worthington) and Wills picked up 6-0, 6-1 and 6-0, 6-2 victories at No. 6 and No. 4 singles, respectively.
Ochsenhirt won 7-6(5), 6-0 at No. 1 singles, freshman Olivia Schrager (Dayton/Miami Valley) won 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 singles and freshman Abigail Staskiewicz (Mars, Pa./Oakland Catholic) won 3-6, 6-4, 10-4 at No. 3 to complete the singles sweep for ONU.
In doubles play, Wills and Ochsenhirt secured an 8-0 victory on the No. 2 court while Curry and sophomore Macey Camacho (Hartville/Lake) won with a similar score in the No. 3 slot.
Against the Tigers, Ochsenhirt and Wills won 8-4 at No. 2 doubles for the Polar Bears' lone doubles point.
The teams split the six singles matches, with host Occidental edging Ohio Northern 5-4.
OC won at Nos. 2 and 3 singles to go ahead 4-1, but ONU rallied with wins by Curry at No. 5 (6-2, 6-1) and Wills at No. 6 (6-3, 6-2) to pull within 4-3.
But the hosts clinched the match with a win at No. 4 singles.
Ochsenhirt wrapped up the match with a tight 7-6(4), 7-6(3) win at No. 1.
Women’s lacross
GREENSBORO, N.C. — The Ohio Northern women's lacrosse program began its 2019 Spring Break trip Tuesday afternoon, falling 15-3 to Old Dominion Athletic Conference foe Guilford (N.C.) at the Armfield Athletic Center in Greensboro, N.C.
With the loss, the Polar Bears move to 1-2 overall in the early season. Meanwhile, the Quakers rise to 3-2 overall.
ONU received goals from juniors Ann McArn (Bay Village/Western Reserve Academy), Rachel Shipman(Noblesville, Ind.), and Jacqui Lohman (Liberty Township/Lakota East) in Tuesday's contest.
In net, junior goalkeeper Kelli Hill (Worthington/Thomas Worthington) recorded a career-high 15 saves and paced the Orange and Black with four ground balls.
Additionally, sophomore defender Hannah Cornelius (Worthington/Thomas Worthington) posted a career-high three ground balls while classmate Sabra Woodruff (Beavercreek) registered a team-best three draw controls.
For the home side, Madison Iandoli and Audrey Helfenbein each produced four-goal hat tricks to lead the Quaker offense.
Guilford sprinted out to an early lead Tuesday afternoon, scoring the first five goals over the opening 16 minutes. The Polar Bears broke into the scoring column with 9:52 left in the first half when McArn rifled a free position attempt past Quakers' goalkeeper Kersten Daneau, but the home side closed the frame with five straight goals to lead 10-1 at the break.
Following two Iandoli goals to open the second, Shipman converted the Polar Bears' second free position shot of the nonconference affair to make the game 12-2 with 22:07 remaining in regulation. Moments later, Lohman scored on an assist from Shipman to conclude the ONU scoring.
As a team, Guilford out-shot the Polar Bears 35-13 and held a 13-7 advantage in draw controls during Tuesday's matchup. They also managed a 23-16 edge in ground balls.
Ohio Northern will return to action this Friday, March 8 with a 1 p.m. matchup against Greensboro (N.C.). The nonconference contest will be the final game of a two-game road stretch and will conclude this season's Spring Break trip.
