ADA, Ohio – Mount Union's softball team split a pair of games in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament, beating Muskingum 3-0 in the semifinals and then falling to Ohio Northern 4-3 in the championship game.
The Purple Raiders (23-18-1, 11-6-1 OAC) would strike first in the top of the third inning when senior
Payton Guspyt (Port Washington / Indian Valley) hit an RBI double that scored senior
Savannah Miner (Louisville) and junior
Grace Heath (Beloit / West Branch). Then, senior
Alyssa Rose (Madison) hit an RBI double to bring home Guspyt and give the Raiders a 3-0 lead.
Neither team would be able to plate any runs over the final four innings giving Mount Union the 3-0 victory.
The Muskies (31-13, 14-4 OAC) had no answer for senior
Peyton Morrison (Canton / GlenOak) who pitched a complete game shutout, giving up just one hit and striking out four.
Mount Union would strike first against Ohio Northern with two runs in the bottom half of the first, the first came off an RBI double from Rose that brought home Guspyt, then Rose scored on a wild pitch to take a 2-0 lead.
The Polar Bears (24-9, 16-2 OAC) would cut into the lead with a run in the top of the fourth inning when Lauren Renner scored on a wild pitch. Ohio Northern would take their first lead of the game with three runs in the top half of the fifth, the first two came off a two RBI single from Hannah Rubel, then Renner hit an RBI single to bring home the third run and take a 4-2 lead.
The Raiders would answer with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning, coming off a sacrifice fly from freshman
Adri George (Eastlake / North) that scored Rose to cut the lead down to 4-3. Mount Union was unable to score in the bottom half of the seventh and Ohio Northern would go on to win 4-3.
Morrison got the start again for the Raiders and gave up four runs on five hits, while striking out two in four innings. Rose came in to pitch the final three innings in relief and gave up zero runs on three hits and struck out three.
Mount Union finishes the season with a 23-18-1 record overall and finished 11-6-1 in OAC play.