Tag: sports

Senior athletes can return, but must pay for a full year of school

Alex Emerson and Peter Lujan
Transcript correspondents
aaemerso@owu.edu
pllujan@owu.edu

The coronavirus pandemic served up a double-dose of misfortune and heartache for 105 senior athletes at Ohio Wesleyan.

They not only lost all the comfort, support and rewards of being on campus and attending classes, but after four years of hard work and sacrifice their final season of competition vanished in a flash.

Not all is lost. Since the cancellation of spring sports, the NCAA announced it would grant senior athletes another semester of eligibility, but not without strings attached.

The organization’s rules limit student-athletes to four seasons of competition in a five-year period, but the NCAA is allowing athletes to apply so that they can play and have eligibility for another year, as noted in an NCAA press release.

The catch? Seniors must commit to return for a full academic year. So students would have to pay for another two semesters of school in order to take advantage of this extension.

Ohio Wesleyan is working with the NCAA and the NCAC regarding questions about athlete participation and eligibility. Student-athletes will receive updates and information as it becomes available.

Doug Zipp, OWU’s director of Athletics, said some may return.

“It is our goal that our student-athletes graduate in four years and then use their Ohio Wesleyan education and do great things,” Zipp said. “I have talked with a few seniors who are interested in considering a return to Ohio Wesleyan to take advantage of the NCAA blanket waiver, which provides an additional year of eligibility.”

But the situation clearly presents a dilemma for some seniors who can’t afford additional tuition or who have plans for after college.

For instance, Jaliyah Atkinson, a senior on the women’s track and field roster, doesn’t have the time to take advantage of renewed eligibility and said she doubts that OWU can reduce tuition because it has its own financial woes.

“I am not planning to stay a year for eligibility because I already have life plans set up that I plan to follow through regardless of the COVID-19 setback,” she said. “I also would not pay to come back to OWU to play sports. It’s way too expensive and I wouldn’t want the classes I would have to take affect my GPA.”

Senior Tyler Mansfield, a member of the women’s swimming & diving team, finds herself in a similar situation.

“That does not help committing students like myself who are missing out on a large chunk of their spring education,” Mansfield said. “I do not plan to stay a year for eligibility because I have applied and been accepted to graduate school in the fall.”

Zipp said if any students do plan on returning, they must take extra steps to make it happen.

“If a student-athlete graduates, they can re-enroll in a second baccalaureate program or be accepted into a full-time graduate program,” Zipp said. “Any student-athlete who is interested in exploring this option, we are working individually with them to navigate this path.”

Meanwhile, the athletes have not been abandoned, despite the unforeseen cancellation of all athletic competition, Zipp said.

“We are so very sad and disappointed for our student-athletes and specifically our seniors who seasons came to such an abrupt end,” Zipp said. “Our coaching staff has been in constant communication with our student-athletes, checking in several times per week, having team meetings, virtual workouts, educational sessions and academic check-ins.”

OWU senior Nick Braydich, a member of the golf team, said he will not return, but his buddy, senior Ken Keller on the golf team at Youngstown State University, probably will.

“My friend on the team is staying in the area and he’s psyched about the extension,” Braydich said. “He didn’t know if he would be able to play next year after he couldn’t play this season.”

Keller said he loves competing and is thankful that the extension gives him more time to practice his craft.

“The biggest reason I chose to use my extra year of eligibility is that I now have the opportunity to develop my game for another year,” Keller said. “I also did not want to miss the opportunity to compete in another conference championship since this year was canceled. It also gives me the opportunity to take more classes and compete in more tournaments. ”

The NCAA adjusted financial aid rules to allow teams to carry more members on scholarship to account for incoming recruits and student-athletes who had been in their last year of eligibility and decided to return for an additional year.

Colleges were also granted the flexibility by the NCAA to give students the opportunity to return for 2020-21 without requiring that financial aid be provided at the same level awarded for the previous year, acknowledging the financial difficulty now stalking universities.

“The (NCAA) Council’s decision gives individual schools the flexibility to make decisions at a campus level,” chairman M. Grace Calhoun said in a press release. “Schools also will have the ability to use the NCAA’s Student Assistance Fund to pay for scholarships for students who take advantage of the additional eligibility flexibility in 2020-21.”

Competitors grieve Bishop’s lost athletic season

Peter Lujan, Erin Ross and Hailey de la Vara
Transcript correspondents
pllujan@owu.edu
emross@owu.edu
hhdelava@owu.edu

When the novel coronavirus closed Ohio Wesleyan, all athletic events ground to a halt for the remainder of the spring semester, wiping out the aspirations of more than 500 athletes from 25 teams.

The abrupt ending to the season sent everyone packing, heading back home while leaving many heartbroken and devastated. For senior athletes, the last semester of playing for the Battling Bishops vanished before their eyes.

Senior Cirrus Robinson, a four time national champion with five All-American titles in women’s track and field, was at the nationals meet in Winston Salem, North Carolina to compete in the high jump when she heard the news.

She never got the chance to compete – the meet was canceled after the team arrived.

“I was surrounded by athletes, many that I know personally by now, with their chances taken from them in real time,” Robinson said. “There were people crying outside and in the hallways. Everyone was on the phone. It was heartbreaking, especially because in retrospect it was only the tip of the iceberg.”

Robinson, who’s participated in six national track and field competitions, said it’s difficult to accept the fact that her time competing for OWU has ended.

“I have zero regrets or longings about my career as a Bishop,” she said. “That said, this is still not easy. My teammates, who are everything to me, deserved more chances to shine and show themselves this season.”

The NCAA has granted another year of eligibility to spring sport seniors, she said.

“I know many of my friends in the NCAC and NCAA will be using this to finish what they started,” Robinson said. “I’m so happy for them and I will surely be hanging on the fence to watch them achieve their goals.”

Most student athletes accumulate a long history of work, so this abrupt ending to the season was heartbreaking, said Julia Dickman, a sophomore on the track and field team.

“This is my first season off from sports in 12 years,” Dickman said. “I’ve never not known a spring or fall season without games, meets or being with my best friends and my teammates.”

Ashley Smiley, on the women’s track and field and soccer teams, was in Belize for a travel learning course when she heard the news. She initially thought everything was being blown out of proportion.

“When I heard that the spring season was cancelled, it didn’t seem real,” Smiley said. “Once I came back and saw how rapid everything was spreading, I understood the decision in order to try and keep everyone safe and healthy.”

OWU’s men’s baseball team was in Florida competing when these rapidly escalating events initially caught senior right handed pitcher Justin Grubb by surprise. But the reality of the season’s end didn’t take long to set in.

“I pretty much knew when we had two games left in our Florida trip,” Grubb said. “It was pretty hard because I had pitched the day before and didn’t think that it would be my last.”

Initially speculation circulated that the season would only be postponed.

“College athletics has not only allowed me to continue to play the game that I love, but also has given me friendships that will last forever.” – Justin Grubb

“At first I thought the decision was very quick to the trigger and not necessary to cancel an entire season,” Grubb said. “However, it doesn’t seem like this virus is going to go away anytime soon, so in the end they made the right decision.”

Despite the strange and sad position seniors find themselves in, Grubb was able to recall fondly his time playing collegiate baseball.

“I’ll remember all the stories I’ve had with my teammates over the years, and how much we’ve grown and changed in just four years,” he said. “College athletics has not only allowed me to continue to play the game that I love, but also has given me friendships that will last forever.”

As much as senior women’s softball pitcher Kendall Kaiser is sadden by the end of the season, she said valuable life lessons can be learned.

“Having my senior softball season cut short so quickly helped me realize to never take things for granted,” she said. “Luckily, I was informed of the news before I had played my final game, so I was able to change my mindset to just play because I love the game and to play with confidence,”

“We will re-establish our purpose and prepare in an even more meaningful way.  I expect we will be even better due to this experience.” – Kris Boey

Delivering the unwelcome news to athletes was an emotional task for coaches, said Mike Plantholt, coach of the Ohio Wesleyan men’s lacrosse team.

“We brought everyone into Branch Rickey arena and I had them sit on the bleachers … I just tried to be straight up and to the point with them on the developments,” Plantholt said. “In our program we try to tackle situations and problems head-on and focus on the things we have control over.”

Though emotions and tensions were high, Plantholt said he went about the situation as calmly and rationally as possible.

“At that point we had zero control over the season being cancelled so we just focused on the next steps. It was just business as usual,” Plantholt said.

Finding a positive, Kris Boey, coach of the men’s and women’s track and field teams, said he believes this extra-long offseason could have benefits.

“I expect it will leave our team hungry and wanting more,” Boey said. “We will re-establish our purpose and prepare in an even more meaningful way.  I expect we will be even better due to this experience.”

And as we live through one of the most rapid spreading pandemics in the world’s history, Plantholt has a message for everyone who may be feeling scared or overwhelmed.

“This quarantine will not last, but our team, the Ohio Wesleyan athletics program, and our university will,” Plantholt said.

Bishops Battle Heidelberg in Volleyball Home Opener

By Peter Lujan

Staff Reporter

pllujan@owu.edu

The Battling Bishops women’s volleyball team has it’s first home stand Tuesday night where it faced Heidelberg University. The game is part of a string of  heavy competition for the Bishops according to head coach Kirsta Cobb, “Our first weekend was against top-25 teams in the nation.” This is no mistake either, Cobb explained, “playing tough competition early, the goal of that is to get us ready, mentally, emotionally, physically for the conference season” 

Senior captain Jordan Brandt is on the same page with her coach, as she stated, “That’s our goal; to be top 25 in the country we belong in the top two [in the conference.]”

However, junior captain Megan Schwallie, said she feels that they need to step up to the occasion “But we don’t want to settle either.” However, she does see the positives as well “ We found a lot of growth with the teams that we were playing,” Schwallie added. 

The first two sets of the match went to Heidelberg, where they won the first, 25-19, and the second, 25-16.

The third set, however, went down to the very last point. After the Bishops started off the set up 8-3. Heidelberg used momentum to go on a 14-7 run, taking a 17-15 lead in the set.

 That prompted Cobb to call a timeout and discuss things with the team. 

According to Brandt, this timeout was rather beneficial. “[Cobb] does a really good job of calling timeouts systematically.” 

After the timeout, the Battling Bishops gained some of that momentum from Heidelberg and ran with it, winning the set 25-23 on the strength of a 10-6 run, including a 46 second rally on their 20th point. 

“A big part of volleyball is the first five points, especially when you have that kind of momentum,” explains Brandt. 

Heidelberg started off the set with a 5-0 lead, and the Bishops did their best to chip away at the lead. But Heidelberg continued to score in bunches, while the Bishops missed a handful of serves. At the end of the night the Bishops missed a total of 17 serves. 

Unfortunately, that momentum did not carry into the next set, in fact the Bishops got the exact opposite start that they hoped for. 

When asked about the inability to carry the momentum from the end of the third set into the beginning of the fourth set, Brandt said, “It’s the struggle of taking that high energy and high intensity and focusing it.” 

When asked about how that many missed serves affected the tone and momentum of a volleyball game, Cobb said, “It’s really hard to build momentum and put pressure on the opponent, if we keep giving them an out.” 

Schwallie added, “That many missed serves makes up more than half a game.” 

Heidelberg finished the fourth and final set on a 5-2 run, winning the set 25-19 and the match 3-1. Bishops are now 1-6 on the season. 

Brandt explained the frustration of these early season struggles. “Unfortunately, we haven’t quite had the results we wanted to. We put a lot of emphasis into these first games, because if we want to get an at-large bid to the national tournament, winning these games is key.”

Even with this start to the season, Cobbs does not seemed worried.“We still have the ability to reach a lot of our goals…We just want to continue to progress and improve each day.”

The Battling Bishops have their next game Friday, Sept 13 at 5 p.m. against the Wilmington Quakers in Branch Rickey Arena as the Bishop Invitational kicks-off.

Volleyball Team “Drafts” Serena Scillia as a New Member

Ohio Wesleyan’s volleyball team has partnered with an organization called Team Impact. Team Impact drafts children who fight chronic illnesses to join college athletic teams. Serena Scillia fights cystic fibrosis but that doesn’t stop her from her passion, playing volleyball. Welcome to the team, Serena.

Rowing team makes their debut

The Ohio Wesleyan rowing team made its intercollegiate debut on Saturday, competing in the Muskie Chase hosted by Marietta College.

In the Novice 4 competition, Marietta completed the 6000-meter course on the Ohio River in a time of 26:32.0. Cincinnati finished in 27:56.3, Case Reserve was third in 28:09.6, and the Ohio Wesleyan boat placed fourth in 29:56.5.

Ohio Wesleyan also competed in the 500-meter sprints, and finished second in the first Novice 4 flight. Marietta’s boat finished in 1:47.7, followed by Ohio Wesleyan at 1:52.7, Case Reserve with a 1:58.2, and Cincinnati with a 2:26.6.  In the second Novice 4 flight, Cincinnati won in 1:48.2, followed by Marietta 1:50.0, Ohio Wesleyan 1:55.4, and Case Reserve 1:58.3.

“Honestly I loved training with these group of girls. Being back on the water was a uplifting moment for me and being there with such an amazing group of girls made the experience even better.” said freshman Sana Hussain.

Head Coach Andriel Doolittle hopes to gain more rowers in the spring season so as to be able to compete in more events. With a roster of just eight OWU is not yet able to race a full eight, as an eight person boat requires nine people including the coxen.

“I’m excited to see our new rowing program finally get to be on the water in a competitive environment,” said athletic director Doug Zipp, “I know they had a great experience and it’s something to build upon, and I know they’re very excited for the spring season.”

Due to the newness of the program, it was decided to schedule one event late in the season so as to prepare the girls for competitive rowing.

“Knowing that we’re going to have a lot of new people to the sport, our goal was to have one event late in the season so that we would have lots of time to establish things, get into a good rhythm, make sure people knew how to row by the time we got to that point because the hardest thing to do is to put people that aren’t ready, out on the race course.” said Doolittle.

Doolittle explained that the Fall season is meant to be more of a training season to prepare for the primary season in the spring. It’s then, that championship events occur.

Muskie Chase completes Ohio Wesleyan’s fall schedule with the spring schedule beginning at the end of March, with several races already set for the spring.

 

Students celebrated for academics and athletics

By Jesse Sailer, Sports Editor

The 14th annual Dale J. Bruce athletic dinner highlighted the acheivements of Ohio Wesleyans scholar-athletes.

A total of 51 students, ranging from sophmores to juniors, were recognized for earning a GPA of 3.66 or above.

President Rock Jones said, “We celebrate the real virtue of college athletics and that is the integration of the whole person, of the intellectual life of the mind reflected in the acadmeic work of our students.”

Each of the 51 students recognized were asked to bring a guest proffesor. As each student received their award, they spoke a little about why they chose the professor they did.

Aside from the recognition of the top 51 athletes, there were a total of 10 student-athlete awards given to students across all sports.

NCAC Scholar-Athletes : Nate Axelrod, Ashley Day

James DiBiasio Award (male sportsmanship award) : Nick Horton

Mackenzie Conway Award (female sportsmanship award) : Kayla Richard

Dr.Richard Gordon Award (top male scholar-athlete) : Scott Harmanis

Mary Parker Award (top female scholar-athlete) : Meaghan Teitelman

Dr.John Martin Award (best all-around senior male athlete) : Nate Axelrod

Nan Carney-DeBord Award (best all-around senior female athlete) : Iris Anderson

Top Eleven (represent the OWU athletics department in a positive manner and contribute to the entire campus community) : Nate Axelrod, Michael Blatchford, Mackenzie Brunke, Amanda Clay, Brianna La Croix, Nick Horton, Brian Jordan, Trey Olsen, Kayla Richard, Richard Spernoga, Kari Seymour

Bob Strimer Director’s Cup (team with the highest GPA) : Women’s cross country

Dale J. Bruce Presidential Award (recognized athletic and acadmeic accomplishments) : Nate Axelrod

“This shows how Ohio Wesleyan and our student athletes exemplify the ideals of the division and place primary emphasis on academics,” Athletic Director Doug Zipp said.

Leisinger competes for 1 million dollars: Drafted in first ever NBA 2K league

By Jesse Sailer, Sports Editor

Imagine being so good at a video game that competing professionally for 1 million dollars is a reality.

Ohio Wesleyan University junior Malik Leisinger is doing just that.

Leisinger has put aside his Battling Bishops jersey to dawn a National Basketball Association (NBA) 2K League uniform to participate in the first ever NBA 2K inaugural video game competition.

The league, which is a joint promotion between the NBA and 2K Sports, was first announced in May of 2017.

He was one of 102 gamers that were drafted by one of the league’s 17 teams. Teams selected one player at each position over the first five rounds of drafting, (point-guard, small forward, power forward, center). In the sixth round, each team could select a second player at the position of their choice.

The draftees will become the competitive gaming league’s first professionals when the inaugural season tips off in May. The NBA 2K season will take place over the course of three months from May through August with a total prize payout of $1 million, including $35,000 for first-round draft picks. The season concludes with the first NBA 2K league finals.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver attended the draft in New York to announce the first pick. “What’s so exciting today is we’ll be welcoming a new generation of athletes, of NBA players, into this league,” he said, via USA Today’s Charles Curtis.

Leisinger was drafted with the 32nd overall pick in the second round by the Utah Jazz Gaming e-sports team. Qualifying took place in January, with players needing to win fifty games in NBA 2K18’s Pro-Am mode featuring five-on-five matches involving custom-made characters.

“As far as the experience goes, so far, it’s been great,” Leisinger said, “I have never been to Utah, so shifting from living in Cleveland my whole life to Salt Lake City was different at first, but I am getting used to it. One of the main things I enjoy is being surrounded by the beautiful mountains at all times.”

As business administration major and accounting minor, Leisinger has found that playing for Utah Jazz Gaming has given him experience in both the business and marketing areas of e-sports teams.

“Meeting and socializing with these people of power is really intriguing for me because it mixes my passion for the game of basketball and (my career interest in) business and marketing,” Leisinger said, “I hope to land a job with one of the many NBA teams that have an e-sports team.

As it is, e-sports is a growing industry for which analysts have predicted a strong future. Leisinger and his fellow NBA 2K draftees look to earn between $32,000 to $35,000 for their contributions to the sport, as well as housing and health insurance.

Leisinger plays center for Utah Jazz Gaming as MrSlaughter01.

Big Red bears a beating

By Jesse Sailer, Sports Editor

Ohio Wesleyan men’s lacrosse defeated sixth ranked Denison 13-8, leading the Big Red all four quarters.

OWU hadn’t seen a victory over Denison since the 2015 season when the men’s lacrosse team went 18-1 in the regular season and 8-0 in the conference, winning the NCAC men’s lacrosse tournament.

“Beating them does not mark the high point of our season,” said senior defenseman Justin Smith, “We have a long way to go and we’re gonna rock the national tournament this year.”

In what was the 100th meeting on the lacrosse field between the two rivals, Ohio Wesleyan gained momentum early with a goal from freshman attackman Will Anton.

Junior attackman Steve Hildebrand put one in the net soon after, making it 2-0. Denison responded with a goal at the 10 minute mark, putting Big Red on the scoreboard, but was met with four more unanswered goals by the Bishops.

Freshman midfielder Sean Gellen and sophomore midfielder Lucas Smith each contributed one goal each, with Hildebrand racking up two more goals in the first quarter. By the end of the first, the score was 6-1 with Big Red trailing by five goals.

The second quarter started with a goal from senior midfielder Peter Hamblett to extend OWU’s lead. Denison scored their second goal of the game with 10:24 left in the quarter but was met with a goal by freshman midfielder Storm Schalit. The Big Red went on to score three more goals to make it 8-5 by the end of the third quarter.

Junior attacker Max Tennant scored during the first minute of the third quarter, courtesy of a Hildebrand assist, and Tennant and senior midfielder Luke Leyden followed with goals, both assisted by junior midfielder Cole Jamieson, for an 11-6 Ohio Wesleyan lead.

Ohio Wesleyan led 11-7 entering the fourth quarter and Luke Leyden gave his team some breathing room with an unassisted goal at the nine-minute mark. Denison managed to get one more on the scoreboard but was met with another goal by Leyden and a total of six stopped shots by senior goalkeeper Ben Rigger to preserve the lead.

The 13-8 victory moves the Battling Bishops into first place in the North Coast Athletic Conference at 12-2 overall and 6-0 in league play. The loss drops Denison to 11-3 and 5-1 in conference play.

The win also moved the men’s lacrosse team up to No. seven in this week’s USLacrosse Magazine poll and to No. nine in this week’s United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Division III coaches’ poll.

“Super proud of all the guys, we had seniors all the way down to freshman stepping it up big time for this game,” said senior midfielder Trent Schulte.

Men’s & Women’s Track & Field rise to the top in Ohio

By Jesse Sailer, Sports Editor

Ohio Wesleyan men’s track and field won their fourth consecutive all-ohio championship with Ohio Wesleyan women’s finishing in an impressive third place.

The men’s team won the meet with 116½ points. Otterbein followed with 97 points. Case Reserve finished third with 90 points, followed by Heidelberg (74), John Carroll (71), Capital (54½), Denison (43), Baldwin Wallace (39) and Wilmington with (38).

On the women’s side, Oberlin won the meet with 124 points above Otterbein’s 114. Ohio Wesleyan finished with 100½ points. Ohio Northern finished fourth with 74 points, followed by Baldwin Wallace (71½), Capital (58), John Carroll (49), Case Reserve (47) and Heidelberg (44).

Senior Nate Newman and sophomore Mike Heeschen won events to lead Ohio Wesleyan to the team title at the All-Ohio Division III championship meet, hosted by Ohio Wesleyan last Saturday.

Newman won the decathlon at last week’s multi-event portion of the meet, scoring a total of 6226 points to win his third All-Ohio decathlon title.  

Heeschen won the javelin with a throw of 175-10, his second consecutive All-Ohio title in the event.

“I can’t give enough credit to the people who have helped me get here, it’s something i’m immensely proud of and it’s something i’m going to keep in my sights for next season,” Heeschen said.

Sophomores Megan Sievers and Cirrus Robinson both won key events that earned Ohio Wesleyan points at the All-Ohio meet.

Sievers won the long jump with a leap of 18-9ž as well as aiding the 400-meter relay team to a victory, combining with junior Alyssa Acevedo, senior Emily Brown and sophomore Jaliyah Atkinson to break the tape in :48.88.

Robinson won the high jump by clearing 5-5. It was her second consecutive All-Ohio title in the event.

For the men’s team, All-Ohio honors went to freshman Cade Richeson who was second in the shot put and third in the discus, junior Darcy Isaiah who placed second in the 800-meter run, and sophomore Ryan Lesmez who finished third in the 1500-meter run.

“We put in the work, and time after time it pays off in meets like these,” senior Justin Reznick remarked, “It’s about going out there and wanting to show how much work you’ve put into your event.”

The Bishop 400-meter relay team of junior Delontaye Morrow, junior Tommy Davis, sophomore Nate Minic and senior Griffin Peyton also won All-Ohio recognition with its second-place finish.

On the women’s side, All-Ohio laurels went to junior Cait Culberg who placed second in the 10,000-meter run, sophomore Tiffany Moore who was second in the high jump and senior Amanda Clay who placed second in the long jump.

Brown, who was third in the heptathlon at last weekend’s multi-event competition and finished fourth in the triple jump, fifth in the 200-meter dash, and sixth in the long jump, was also recognized as well as Acevedo, who finished third in the long jump.

Softball combats cancer

By Jesse Sailer, Sports Editor

The Ohio Wesleyan softball team raised close to five thousand dollars towards cancer research during their annual StrikeOut Cancer game.

OWUs softball game against Denison wasn’t just any regular season game, it was chosen to be the softball teams StrikeOut Cancer game that helps raise money and bring awareness to cancer.

Attendees were able to purchase a 50/50 raffle ticket or buy a ticket to win a 55” TV or grill.

There was also an opportunity to color ribbons in honor and recognition of those closest to you that might be affected with cancer.

This was the softball teams fifth year partnering with the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) to host a StrikeOut Cancer game

After its creation more than 10 years ago, NFCA’s goal through the StrikeOut Cancer program is to “help increase cancer education and promote healthy living through awareness efforts and fundraising activities.” (https://nfcaevents.org/docs/strikeout-cancer/strikeout-event-information.pdf)

“The strikeout cancer game was more than a game to everyone,” freshman outfielder Madison Bridger said, “It was greater than ourselves and i am super blessed to be a part of a team that was able to raise so much money for the cause.”

Last year, OWU women’s softball raised $3,726 and were recognized as one of the top individual fundraisers for that years NFCA and American Cancer Society annual StrikeOut Cancer initiative.

This year, softball set a goal for $4,500 and have since passed it, predicting a number closer to $5,000 by the time all the donations come through.

“It’s the first time i’ve ran it specifically with such a big goal in mind, we are very excited that we beat our goal by a long shot,” assistant coach Chloe Shell said.

Last saturday’s doubleheader against Denison was also one for the record books.

Senior captain Erin Ferguson became OWUs career home runs leader after she blasted a home run to left center in the bottom of the sixth.

The home run was the 14th of her career, breaking the previous record of 13 set by Taylor Dickinson 17’.

Bridger tied a school record by going 4-for-4 for Ohio Wesleyan, tying the school record for hits in a game. It marked the fourth time this season that the Bishops have tied the single-game hits record

The victory was split, with Ohio Wesleyan winning the first game 9-2 and Denison winning the second 13-10.

Freshman Baylee Small remarked that “Being able to use my god given talents and play the game that i love to help raise money to find a cure for cancer was incredible, and i can’t wait to do it again.”