ROCHESTER, Mich. – Oakland University Softball will have a short turnaround and head to Evansville, Indiana for the Evansville Softball Invitational at Cooper Stadium March 4-5 where the Golden Grizzlies will take on Bowling Green, Evansville, Morehead State, and Creighton.
The Golden Grizzlies completed their six game road trip to Florida emerging with a 2-4 record with wins over receiving votes James Madison as well as DePaul all the while keeping pace with No. 4 Florida, Ole Miss, and No. 3 Florida State.
Oakland started off strong against the Seminoles behind Lauren Griffith's RBI home run to lead 3-0 before FSU would go on to tie at 3-3 then explode out to a 6-3 advantage behind a fiery bottom of the sixth. Griffith would then slap an RBI double to left center as OU pulled within one run at 6-5 before a groundout to second would dash the Golden Grizzlies' hopes.
Griffith now soars up as the team's batting leader hitting .444 with eight hits in 18 at bats and five RBI with a team-high two doubles. Madison Jones sits just behind at .286 with a team-high three runs off six hits.
Sydney Campbell now boasts 3.46 ERA with a 2-3 record with the loss on Wednesday totaling 20 strikeouts in 30.1 innings of play with 15 earned runs.
SCOUTING REPORT
BOWLING GREEN
The Falcons are 6-3 on the season with losses coming against Seattle U, North Carolina State, and Delaware as the best record in the MAC. BGSU was selected to finish fourth in the MAC preseason poll. Four athletes post a batting average above .300 led by Peyton Dolejs at .429. The top pitcher is Payton Gottshall with a 2.38 ERA in 32.1 innings.
EVANSVILLE
The Purple Aces were slated eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference's 2022 Preseason Softball Poll as UE sits 9-5 on the season with pitcher Izzy Vetter being named the MVC Pitcher of the Week with a 1.84 ERA at 7-1. Alexa Davis leads the team in batting average at .382 as the Purple Aces have four above .300.
MOREHEAD STATE
The Eagles were predicted to finish last in the Ohio Valley Conference for the second year in a row as the squad from Kentucky currently sits 0-9 overall. Lennon Spicer holds an ERA of 4.75 in 28.0 innings allowing 37 hits and 19 earned runs.
CREIGHTON
Oakland is 1-0 against competition from the Big East with a 1-0 win over DePaul. The Bluejays were picked to finish fourth in the conference while having a current record of 7-5 coming off a double header loss to South Dakota State where Creighton was outscored 26-0. Brittney Manthie posts a .406 average at the plate with 13 hits while Emma Rosonke has popped three home runs.
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HEATED UP IN CHAMPIONSHIP
The Golden Grizzlies finished 26-16 overall, 23-11 in Horizon League play last season that concluded in the Horizon League Conference Tournament after No. 2 seed Oakland upset No. 1 seed Youngstown State only to fall to No. 3 seed UIC in the championship match 4-3.
ALL-LEAGUE HONOREES
Following the 2021 season, five Golden Grizzly athletes were named to #HLSB All-League honors in Cammie Brummitt, Lauren Griffith, Madison Jones, Sydney Campbell, and Jen Krizka. Brummitt, Griffith, and Jones were named to First Team honors as position players while Campbell was one of two to be listed as a First Team Pitcher. Krizka then followed suit with an All-League Second Team accolade.
RETURNING POWER
Oakland returns all five of the previously mentioned names with an average batting average of .373 as Jones returns to the line up with a team-high .411 average from 2021. Jones was also 15-16 on stolen base attempts and racked up a tying team-high of 13 doubles and seven home runs for a .738 slugging percentage.
Campbell returns to the circle after a 17-7 season a year ago with 91 strikeouts through 165.2 innings pitched to allow 46 earned runs for an ERA of 1.94.
THE FAVORITE? OAKLAND
The Golden Grizzlies were picked first in the #HLSB Preseason Poll with two first-place votes and 82 in total ahead of Youngstown State who garnered five first-place votes and 81 total, respectively. UIC was third with 74 points (two first-place votes) while Robert Morris (62) and Green Bay (49) rounded out the top five.
2022 RECRUITING CLASS
The Golden Grizzlies added five student-athletes to the roster for the 2022 season in Kamryn Troyer, Maraina Smith, Jenna Johnston, Kayla Rodriguez, and Taylor Carraway.
KARN EXTENDED
Head Softball Coach, Lauren Karn, had her contract extended through 2025 as the fifth-year coach has coached 11 student-athletes to All-Horizon League honors while reaching the conference tournament three times with two of those being runner-up performances. Ahead of the 2022 campaign, Karn is 19 wins away from being the all-time winningest coach.
