ROCHESTER, Mich. – Oakland University Softball will open the 2022 #HLSB Tournament on Thursday, May 12 at Noon as the number one overall seed facing No. 5 seeded Green Bay at the YSU Softball Complex in Youngstown, Ohio.

In 2021, Oakland fell in the championship game to UIC who went on to represent the Horizon League in the NCAA Tournament. This time around, Oakland retained the number one seed as every perfect, possible scenario played out to the Golden Grizzlies favor last weekend. With a matchup against Green, OU will seek an appearance in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2015. 

Allisa DiPrima has jumped up to the top of the batting average for OU with a .364 after getting four doubles, a triple, and a home run on the year to round out the regular season. All-League First Team members Madison Jones, Lauren Griffith, and Jessie Munson follow in tow with averages of .343, .327, and .314, respectively. The Golden Grizzlies occupy three of the top ten spots in the Horizon League.

Redshirt sophomore Sydney Campbell has a league-best earned run average of 1.77 with a conference-only ERA of 1.14. Campbell has pitched in 190.0 innings and goes into the tournament with a record of 20-7 while in the circle. The LaGrange, Ohio native is now up to 144 strikeouts on the year in a total of 738 at bats, only giving up 48 earned runs.

Seven members of the Oakland Softball team received All-League honors by the Horizon League as announced on Tuesday. Jones, Munson, Griffith, and Campbell were all on the All-League First Team list with Cammie Brummitt on the All-League Second Team roster. Campbell was named the Pitcher of the Year by the conference while Head Coach Lauren Karn earned her first Coach of the Year award. Madi Herrington rounds out the honorees as the LaGrange, Ohio native was placed on the Freshman Team list.

Oakland is 144th in the latest NCAA RPI as D1Softball.com has the Golden Grizzlies listed with the 25th toughest schedule in the nation following the 2022 regular season campaign.

SCOUTING REPORT

GREEN BAY

Green Bay squeaked by No. 4 seed Robert Morris in the first round of the 2022 #HLSB Tournament behind a big fifth inning that saw the Phoenix command a 3-1 lead with all three runs coming with two outs remaining. RMU attempted to mount a rally in the sixth but were unable to advance. 

Similar to Oakland, Green Bay has four batters with an average above .300 led by Alicia Peters, the Horizon League Player of the Year, at .391 with a team-high 12 home runs and the third-most RBI of 26. The Phoenix's RBI leader is Jadin Justman at 34. 

Green Bay is led in the circle by Abby Gawlinski with a 2.84 ERA though the arm of Brittany Baneck has the most appearances at 12-10 overall in 29 appearances. Baneck has totaled 131 strikeouts but has allowed a team-high 11 home runs in the three pitcher rotation.
___________________________________________________________________________

NUMBER ONE SEED
For the first time since 2015, Oakland became regular season Horizon League Champions after a tense weekend in Green Bay that saw the crown come down to the final games across the league as the Golden Grizzlies stole the series from the Phoenix 2-1. 

ETCHED IN HISTORY
Lauren Karn is now Oakland's all-time winningest head coach in program history following a 3-1 come-from-behind win over Youngstown State in the second game of a double header back on April 26 for her 92nd win and counting.

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. Campbell also knocked down a career-high 11 batters in the team's win over Detroit Mercy on April 9. 

#HLSB SWEEPS
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.