YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The No. 2 seed Oakland softball program will travel to Youngstown State for the Horizon League Championship from May 13-15 at the YSU Softball Field. All games will stream on ESPN+. No admission will be charged throughout the tournament.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
May 13 vs. No. 3 UIC | 3 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats
May 13 vs. No. 4 RMU | 6 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats
May 14 vs. No. 1 YSU | 3 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats
May 15 vs. No. 3 UIC | Noon | Watch | Live Stats
May 15 vs. No. 3 UIC | 3 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats
Follow the Horizon League Championship page for the latest information, results, and updates at the double-elimination tournament.
TOURNAMENT SEEDING
Oakland closed the regular season at 23-11 in conference play, which tied with UIC for second in the Horizon League. However, OU's series win over the Flames in late April clinched the No. 2 seed for the Black and Gold. Youngstown State went 28-8 against HL opponents to earn the No. 1 seed and hosting rights. Robert Morris grabbed the No. 4 seed with a 20-14 record in League play.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Golden Grizzlies have advanced to the Horizon League Championship four times since joining the conference in 2014. Oakland won the 2015 Horizon League Championship to clinch an NCAA Regional berth in its first-ever appearance. OU has gone 4-4 over two appearances at the tournament under fourth-year head coach Lauren Karn. In her first year at the helm, she led the Golden Grizzlies to the title game for the second time in school history, where they fell to No. 1 seed UIC. In 2019, Oakland went 1-2 at the tournament with a 6-4 win in 15 innings over Youngstown State in the opening round.
WEEKEND RECAP
OU closed the regular season with a four-game series sweep over Purdue Fort Wayne. The Golden Grizzlies opened the series with a 7-0 shutout victory and followed with consecutive walk-off winners. Oakland trailed in the series finale but escaped with a 3-2 win thanks to a three-run fifth inning.
•Day 1 Recap
•Day 2 Recap
HORIZON'S BEST
The Golden Grizzlies concluded the regular season atop of several conference categories, including batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage.
• Team in batting average (.304)
• Team in slugging percentage (.461)
• Team in on-base percentage (.362)
• Team in doubles per game (1.47)
• Team in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.96)
• Team in least strikeouts offensively (147)
• Team in least home runs allowed (15)
• Team in least wild pitches (10)
• Team in least passed balls (3)
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Redshirt junior third baseman Madison Jones and sophom*ore pitcher Sydney Campbell rank top-50 nationally in multiple categories at the endpoint of the regular season.
Jones
• Seventh nationally in triples (6)
• Ninth nationally in runs per game (1.21)
• 13th nationally in triples per game (0.16)
Campbell
• Seventh nationally in walks allowed per seven innings (0.61)
• 18th nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.42)
POWER SURGE
OU has totaled 30 home runs on the season, which is its most in a single season since 2015. The Golden Grizzlies have homered twice in a game on seven occasions, including a season-high four times against Green Bay (4/3) and PFW (5/4). Four players have homered five-plus times through 38 games, led by the duo of Jones and junior outfielder/catcher Lauren Griffith with seven homers apiece.
HITTING IS CONTAGIOUS
The Golden Grizzlies rank 41st nationally with a .304 batting average. Jones (.395), Griffith (.392), redshirt junior first baseman Cammie Brummitt (.372), sophom*ore catcher Jen Krizka (.310), and senior shortstop Jamie Squires (.304) are currently batting above .300 on the season.
HOME COOKIN'
The Golden Grizzlies finished the season 18-2 at home after series wins over Northern Kentucky, Green Bay, Cleveland State, UIC, and Purdue Fort Wayne. The win total broke a school record for home victories in a season. The previous high was 14 home victories in 2003.
HOME RUN RECORD
Jones clubbed a pair of home runs in the UIC series to become the school record holder in career home runs with 22. Jones broke the school record with a grand slam in the series finale. The Romeo, Mich. native captured the record in just 99 starts, as she hit a program-best 13 home runs in her freshman season, followed by two homers in a Covid-19 shortened 2020 campaign and seven this season.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Brummitt, Campbell, Jones, and Griffith racked Horizon League awards during the regular season. Brummitt earned League Player of the Week after hitting .412 with one triple, three home runs, seven RBI, and six runs scored in the IUPUI series. Campbell went 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA, one complete game, and eight strikeouts in 12.0 innings of work in the Green Bay series en route to earning League Pitcher of the Week. In the UIC series, Jones led the Golden Grizzlies in RBI (6), runs scored (5), stolen bases (3), and home runs (2), which led to her second career League Player of the Week award. Griffith batted .524 with three home runs and nine RBI over a six-game stretch against Purdue Fort Wayne, which led to Player of the Week honors in the final week of regular-season play.
3/16/21 - Cammie Brummitt - HLSB Player of the Week (1st of career)
4/6/21 - Sydney Campbell - HLSB Pitcher of the Week (1st of career)
4/27/21 - Madison Jones - HLSB Player of the Week (2nd of career)
5/11/21 - Lauren Griffith - HLSB Player of the Week (1st of career)
MAKING HISTORY
Brummitt and Squires made history in Oakland's series sweep over Cleveland State. Brummitt smashed a school-record three doubles in the series opener, while Squires hit a grand slam in the series finale to become OU's school-record holder in career RBI with 98. Squires surpassed current graduate assistant Brittney Miller who was previously the program leader with 97 career RBI.
DO-IT-ALL JONES
Jones has batted .395 with 11 doubles, six triples, seven home runs, 24 RBI, and a school-record 46 runs scored in 38 starts. In the conference rankings, she holds top-five marks in runs (2nd), triples (2nd), slugging percentage (.736, 2nd), batting average (3rd), total bases (76, 3rd), stolen bases (15, 4th), on-base percentage (.462, 4th), hits (51, T-4th), hit by pitch (7, T-4th), and doubles (5th).
GRIFFITH TO THE RESCUE
Griffith has enjoyed a breakout junior campaign, as she is batting .392 with eight doubles, seven home runs, and a team-leading 32 RBI. She possesses top-10 HL marks in batting average (4th), hits (51, T-4th), RBI (5th), slugging percentage (.615, 6th), and on-base percentage (.436, 9th). Additionally, the Grove City, Ohio native has totaled three or more hits in a team-high six games.
THRIVING IN THE CIRCLE
Campbell is 15-5 with a 1.82 ERA in 138.2 innings of work. She holds top-five HL marks in innings pitched (2nd), wins (2nd), strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.42, 2nd), shutouts (3, T-2nd), ERA (3rd), complete games (16, T-3rd), and batters struck out looking (29, T-3rd). Furthermore, Campbell ranks seventh in NCAA Division I and second in the HL in walks allowed per seven innings (0.61). She has walked no batters in 19 of her 27 appearances.
POWERED BY BRUMMITT
Brummitt is batting .372 with a team-leading 12 doubles, one triple, six home runs, and 26 RBI. She is three doubles shy of tying Oakland's single-season school record of 15 doubles, which was last broke by Keri Sedgley in 2001. The Glen Allen, Va., native ranks 58th nationally in doubles per game (0.32) and has struck out just eight times in 137 at-bats.
SHE'S A TEAM PLAYER
Junior second baseman Jessie Munson is tied for third in the conference and 63rd nationally in sacrifice flies with three. In her career with the Golden Grizzlies, she has tallied 23 sacrifice hits, good for the fifth-highest mark in school history. The Harrison Township, Mich., native has also excelled on the base paths with 10 stolen bases in 11 tries.
8-STRAIGHT
Brummitt reached base in eight consecutive at-bats spanning over three games from April 24 to May 4. She started it off with two singles and a walk in her final three at-bats in OU's series finale against UIC (4/24). In her next game at Purdue Fort Wayne, Brummitt reached base in all four plate appearances with three singles and a walk. She opened game two at PFW with another single to increase the streak to eight at-bats.
SEASON FOR THE AGES
The Golden Grizzlies have won 23 games against conference competition, which is the most in program history. The record was previously set in 2001 when OU went 16-6 in Summit League play. Oakland's record mark in conference wins against Horizon League opponents was 14 during the 2015 season.
NCAA TOURNAMENT
The winner of the Horizon League Championship will advance to the 64-team NCAA softball tournament. Regional competition will take place from May 21-23, followed by Super Regionals from May 27-29. The Women's College World Series will commence on June 3 in Oklahoma City.
NEWCOMERS
OU welcomed six newcomers — all freshmen — to the program last fall. Four of the six freshmen come from Michigan. The other two newcomers arrive on campus from Ohio and Indiana.
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