ROCHESTER, Mich. – Oakland University Softball will finally play its opening weekend April 9-10 at the Oakland Softball Field against Horizon League rival Detroit Mercy as the Golden Grizzlies look to improve their conference win streak in the three game series.

At 11-8 on the year, Oakland is coming off its first win against the Spartans of Michigan State since 2011 winning 10-5 at Secchia Stadium on Tuesday as Lauren Griffith goes a perfect 4-4 at the plate with one hits and three RBI while her teammate Madison Jones posted a 3-4 outing with four runs, three RBI, and a home run.

Griffith leads the team in batting average at .418 (leads the league) on the year with 23 hits, 10 doubles (also leads the league), and a team-tying high of 15 RBI. Jones now jumps Cammie Brummitt with a .333 average to Brummitt's .263 average, respectively, with the redshirt senior knocking her fourth home run out of the park against MSU.

Sydney Campbell boasts a 2.44 ERA with a 9-5 record going into strictly-conference play the rest of the 2022 campaign, allowing 97 hits in 377 at bats with Mia Konyvka coming off her second victory against the Spartans on Tuesday for a 2-2 mark on the season and a 6.21 ERA. Campbell's 2.44 is the third-best in the league as the LaGrange, Ohio native has the second most wins of any pitcher in the conference.

The Golden Grizzlies are now 100th in the NCAA Softball RPI after Tuesday's win ahead of power five programs like Maryland, Syracuse, Purdue, and others.

SCOUTING REPORT

DETROIT MERCY

UDM is on a one game winning streak following the program's first win of the 2022 season last Saturday in a 4-0 shutout of Green Bay in Detroit. To that point, Detroit Mercy had dropped 24 games in a row to go with a winless Horizon League record.

No Titan batter is above .300 as the team's leader at the plate currently belongs to Taylor Gauthier at .288 with a team-high 17 hits and no RBI. Taryn Peru, Leena Mortensen, Renee Trotman all have brought in five RBI apiece, respectively, as those same three individuals have smacked two home runs each this season.

The best ERA posted by any of the Titans' arms is a 6.82 behind Olivia Warrington who has allowed 40 hits in 118 at bats with a 0-5 record while Liz Murphy holds a 1-15 mark with 151 hits, 109 runs, and seven triples allowed for a 7.05 ERA. 
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WINNING IN EAST LANSING
The Golden Grizzlies beat Michigan State on the road in East Lansing on April 5 for the first time since 2011 in the 10-5 route behind Griffith's perfect appearance at the plate going 4-4 with three RBI while Jones would go 3-4 with four runs, three RBI, and her fourth home run of the season.

BIG 200 K.O.s 
Campbell punched out her 200th career batter against PFW on April 2 as the LaGrange, Ohio native boasted a 0.55 ERA against the Mastodons.

#HLSB SWEEP
Oakland swept NKU in the Horizon League series opener 3-0 in Highland Heights to start perfect in league play before going 3-0 against the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons on the weekend of April 1. 

NEAR UPSET ALERT
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.

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.