Cretin's grand slam lifts No. 9 Softball to split with Mount Union

Katie Cretin

By Tim Glon

| Gm 1 Box | Gm 2 Box |

ADA --  Katie Cretin smashed a grand slam home run to lead the No. 9-ranked Ohio Northern softball team to a split with Mount Union in an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon at the ONU Softball Field.

Mt. Union won the first game 4-1 and ONU took the second game 10-4.

The Polar Bears move to 17-2 overall, 4-2 OAC action, while the Purple Raiders move to 15-11, 3-3.

In the second game, Liz Decima drilled a two-run home run in the bottom of the first to tie the game at 2-2, then Katie Cretin drilled a grand slam to cap the 7-run first and put the Polar Bears up 7-2.

The Raiders chipped away at the lead, scoring runs in the third and fifth frames, to pull within 7-4, but RBI singles from Lisa Light and Cash pushed ONU's lead to 9-4 after five innings.

Northern sent 10 batters to the plate in the first, scoring seven runs on six hits off three different Mount Union pitchers.

Maggie Molnar (1-0) earned the victory in her first career start, throwing a complete-game 9-hitter, striking out five.

In the first game, Mt Union got home runs from Alex Lucak and Anna Horning to take a 4-0 lead after the first five innings.

Northern got within 4-1 on a solo home run by Jackie Mangola in the bottom of the sixth, but it was not enough as the Raiders won the opener.

The Polar Bears will return to action Tuesday with an OAC doubleheader at Baldwin-Wallace.