By Tim Glon
ADA — The Ohio Northern softball team scored 20 runs and pounded out 27 hits in a 7-0, 13-6 sweep of Wilmington on Tuesday afternoon at the ONU Softball Field.
The Polar Bears (9-9 overall, 3-1 Ohio Athletic Conference) also got a 4-hit shutout in Game 1 and a 3-inning save in Game 2 from senior Kaitlin Surdej (Lancaster, N.Y./Central). Surdej finished the day with 10 innings of shutout ball with only six hits allowed in the circle.
The Quakers fall to 14-6, 2-4.
In the opening game, Surdej (5-4) retired the first 10 batters she faced and ended the game with 2 strikeouts. She only needed 65 pitches to earn the complete game victory.
Senior Hailee Loughman (Brookville) hit a solo home run in the bottom of the second to start the scoring.
ONU then added four runs in the third frame and single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to earn the win.
The second game was a slugfest with the two teams combining for 19 runs and 25 hits.
Northern batted around in the first, third and sixth innings.
Ohio Northern scored three runs in the first, two more in the second and four more in the third to grab a 9-2 lead.
But the Quakers scored four runs in the top of the fourth to pull within 9-6.
Surdej then came on in the top of the fifth and threw three shutout innings to pick up the save.
Freshman Abby Elliott (Loveland/Ursuline) went 4-for-4 with a RBI and two runs scored to lead Northern's 17-hit attack in the nightcap.
The Polar Bears will have a quick turnaround as they will travel to Capital for another OAC double header on Wednesday.
