YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The Oakland University softball program took down No. 1 seed Youngstown State, 3-0, to advance to the Horizon League Championship game. The Golden Grizzlies will need to win twice over UIC in the championship round to clinch their fourth NCAA softball tournament appearance in school history.
Sophomore pitcher Sydney Campbell (17-6) was dominant in the circle for the Golden Grizzlies (26-15, 23-11 HL) in the win. The right-hander tossed a four-hit shutout, walking one and striking out three. The LaGrange, Ohio native did not allow a hit in three of her seven scoreless frames.
Sophomore Jen Krizka led the way offensively, going 1-for-2 in the ballgame with two RBI. Redshirt junior Madison Jones put together a noteworthy performance at the dish as well, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Junior Lauren Griffith also chipped in two hits in three at-bats. Freshman Maci Brown added a single in the seventh inning.
YSU (36-15, 28-8 HL) threatened early with two of its first three batters reaching base in the first inning. However, Campbell induced a groundout and flyout to get out of the inning unscathed. She collected herself by not allowing a hit in the next two innings.
Meanwhile, Penguin starting pitcher Maddi Lusk held the Golden Grizzlies hitless through three innings of play, as the OU offense opened the game with nine-consecutive groundouts.
With the matchup tied at 0-0 in the top of the fourth inning, Jones collected an infield single for Oakland's first hit of the contest. She advanced to third on a single from Griffith and came around to score on an RBI single off the bat of Krizka. Pinch-runner Sidney Rayba scored from second base on a fielding error by YSU shortstop Alex DeLeon to extend the Golden Grizzly lead to 2-0.
After two more scoreless frames from Campbell, Oakland added to its lead in the top of the sixth. Jones reached base on an infield single and advanced to third thanks to Griffith's second base hit of the game. Krizka delivered an RBI sacrifice fly to right field to score Jones and push OU's advantage to three runs.
The three-run deficit was too much for Youngstown State to overcome, as the tournament host went down in order in the bottom of the sixth and could only get one baserunner on in the seventh.
The 3-0 win against the Penguins advanced Oakland to the Horizon League championship game versus UIC. The Flames and Golden Grizzlies will battle at noon on Saturday, May 15 on ESPN+. An Oakland win forces a winner-take-all second matchup at 3 p.m.
Game Notes
» Campbell tossed her fourth shutout of the season.
» Campbell recorded her 19th complete game of the season.
» Campbell limited Youngstown State to just 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
» Campbell faced 28 Youngstown State hitters in the game, allowing nine ground balls and nine fly balls while striking out three.
» Krizka collected her 14th RBI in the last eight games.
» Krizka tallied an RBI for the seventh time in the last eight games.
» Jones extended her hitting streak to 20 games.
» Jones scored two or more runs in a game for the 18th time this season.
» Griffith extended her hitting streak to 14 games.
» The Golden Grizzlies out-hit the Penguins at a 6-4 clip.
» Oakland went 0-4 against YSU in regular-season play.
» Youngstown State was led offensively by Hailey Niederkohr, who went 1-for-3 with a double.
» Maddi Lusk led the Penguins pitching staff, throwing seven innings of three-run ball.
#GrizzVision with Lauren Karn
