Softball hosts Baldwin Wallace in OAC Tournament Final Four

The Muskingum University softball team will open up OAC Tournament play hosting Baldwin Wallace in the semifinals on Thursday, May 13 at Donna J. Newberry Field.

The Basics
• The OAC Tournament features a six-team bracket, with the Quarterfinal round starting on Tuesday, March 11.
• The semifinals take place on Thursday, May 13, at 4:00 p.m.
• Muskingum earned the second seed after ending the regular season with a 26-9 conference record.
• Baldwin Wallace earned the three-seed after registering a 19-15 conference record.

The Series
• The tournament contest will mark the third meeting of the season between Muskingum and Baldwin Wallace. These two teams opened their 2021 spring season, splitting the four-game series with each other to begin conference play. Baldwin Wallace won the first doubleheaders in Berea, 1-0 and 3-1, while the Muskies went on to sweep the Yellow Jackets the next day in New Concord, winning game one, 9-8, and game two, 7-6.

Muskingum – Inside the Numbers
• Senior Karsyn Shaffer leads the Muskies with a .404 batting average and a team-high 55 hits. She has10 stolen bases and notched six doubles and two triples in the regular season.
• Junior Haley Hawk finished the regular season with a .396 batting average and tallied 40 hits. She hit two home runs, eight doubles and logged a team-high 27 RBIs.
• Senior Shaena Mayer has a .358 batting average and has a team-high 17 stolen bases. She has 43 hits, with two doubles and two triples, and tallied eight RBIs.
• In the circle, junior Hannah Smith carries an 11-3 record and has a 2.32 ERA. She has pitched a total of 96.2 innings, notching 58 strikeouts. She was also awarded OAC Softball Pitcher of the Week twice for her outstanding performances against then 21st-ranked Mount Union and Marietta.
• Senior Hannah Duff carries a record of 12-6, with an ERA of 2.81. She leads the Muskie pitchers in innings pitched with 109.2 and has fired 70 strikeouts.
• The Muskies finished the regular season with a team batting average of .311 and a fielding average of .957.
• The Muskies tallied 332 hits, 52 doubles, seven triples, and nine home runs.
• The Muskie pitching staff has an ERA of 3.00.

Baldwin Wallace – Inside the Numbers
• Freshman Bridie Bricker leads the Yellow Jacket offense with a batting average of .364. She finished the regular season with 44 hits, nine doubles, a team-high 38 RBIs, and belted a team-high of 11 home runs.
• Freshman Emily Mau carries a batting average of .358 and with 44 hits for the Yellow Jackets. She leads the team with 14 stolen bases.
• Junior Ashley Matousek has a batting average of .352, adding 43 hits to help guide the Yellow Jacket offense. She has a team-high of doubles, six home runs, and has notched 33 RBIs.
• On the mound, junior Nikki Camarati carries a 14-6 record with an ERA of 2.16. She has pitched a total of 137 innings and leads the OAC in strikeouts with 223.
• Junior Hannah Welling has a 7-6 record and carries a 3.49 ERA. She has pitched a total of 82.1 innings and has tallied 47 strikeouts.
• The Yellow Jackets finished the regular season with a .295 batting average and a fielding average of .947.
• The Yellow Jackets tallied a total of 300 hits, 66 doubles, 20 home runs.
• The Yellow Jacket pitching staff has a 2.87 ERA.

How to Watch
• Fans can follow all the live action at fightingmuskies.com and through the OAC TV app. The first pitch is slated for 4:00 p.m.

OAC Tournament
• The winner of the game will advance to the OAC Championship series scheduled for Saturday, May 15, and will play the winner of 18th-ranked Mount Union vs. the Ohio Northern/Capital contest winner in a best of three series.