GREENCASTLE, Ind. - May 6, 2022 – Following a 21-13 (13-3 NCAC) campaign, Hiram College softball will enter the 2022 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Softball Tournament as the No. 2 seed and will take on the No. 3-seeded Denison University Big Red in their opening game.
Coming off one of their best seasons in program history in 2021, the Terriers, in their sixth year under Head Coach
Scott Pohlman, put together another sensational campaign, hitting their stride down the stretch to earn a second-place finish with a 13-3 conference record.
Hiram opened the 2022 campaign at The Spring Games in Clermont, Fla., picking up wins over Illinois, Ursinus, Emmanuel (Mass.) and Messiah, before returning home to kickstart their home slate on Friday, March 18 with a non-conference doubleheader against Mount Union.
"This is the first year we decided to go to Florida for spring break," Pohlman said. "We chose Florida this year because we were able to pick the teams we wanted to play. We had a very tough schedule. A majority of the teams we faced in Florida were either nationally ranked or at the top of their region last year. We wanted to be prepared when we opened up NCAC Conference play."
The Terriers opened conference play with a doubleheader split at Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday, April 2, and saw four-straight doubleheaders postponed due to inclement weather before hitting their stride with a stretch of 10-straight conference games.
Following a doubleheader split at home against the Big Red, the Terriers rolled through four conference opponents, sweeping Wooster, Oberlin, Kenyon and Wittenberg to run their conference record to 10-2, and clinch a spot in the NCAC Tournament.
Hiram then wrapped up its non-conference slate with a split against Baldwin Wallace and swept Allegheny before wrapping up the regular season at home with a doubleheader split against the No. 1-seeded DePauw University Tigers.
As a team, the Terriers hit .309/.369/.437, while holding opponents to a .247 opponent batting average, and a 2.75 ERA in the circle.
"I believe that our strength of schedule during spring break and when we returned to Ohio helped us in conference play," Pohlman said. "Our pitchers were able to face some of the top hitters in the country and our hitters were able to face some of the top pitchers."
Graduate student
Giselle Bahena led the Terriers at the plate and was one of six Terriers to bat over .300 on the year, and one of two to hit over .400.
Bahena led the Terriers with her .489/.565/.723 line during the regular season, including an astounding .574/.643/.851 line during conference play. The Pomona, Calif. native led Hiram offensively with 15 doubles, 26 runs scored and 30 RBI, earning National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division III National Player of the Week honors, as well as NCAC Softball Player of the Week honors, for her efforts the week of April 18-24.
Bahena ranks first in the conference in doubles, on-base percentage, second in batting average and slugging percentage and fourth in RBI. Her .574 average in conference play also leads the NCAC by a wide margin, as does her .563 OBP.
Freshman
Darian Kanno also batted over .400 for the Terriers, slashing .404/.443/.587 with 11 doubles, a triple, two home runs, 19 runs scored and 21 RBI.
Seniors
Melissa Galindo and
Giselle Chavez, junior
Kylie Perez and sophomore
Angel Santellan, rounded out the heart of the order for the Terriers, with all four batting over .300 on the year.
While sophomore
Abriana Schwartz, a 2021 First-Team All-NCAC East Division selection, has been coming on strong as of late, batting .357 with 11 RBI in conference play.
In the circle, Kanno led the Terriers with a 9-5 record and 1.62 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 86.1 innings pitched, while
Jeskari Rodriguez picked up eight wins, going 8-6 with a 3.66 ERA in 88.0 innings pitched.
Both pitchers also showed well in conference, with Kanno allowing an opponent batting average of just .209, and Rodriguez dropping her ERA by nearly a full-run, to 2.68 against NCAC foes.
Kanno's 1.62 ERA ranks second in the conference, as does her 106 strikeouts.
Defensively, Bahena and Santellan led Hiram in put-outs, while up the middle, freshman
Fayth Kawamura and sophomore
Leah Valdez have played some stellar defense at shortstop and second base, respectively, as of late.
As a team, Hiram finished in the top five in almost every offensive category, while finishing second in both strikeouts and ERA.
The Terriers enter the 2022 NCAC Softball Tournament as the No. 2 seed, with the regular-season champion DePauw Tigers as the No. 1 seed, Denison as the No. 3 seed, and The College of Wooster as the No. 4 seed.
"As a team, we are excited to get back to the NCAC tournament for the second straight year," Pohlman said.
Hiram split their matchups against both DePauw and Denison this year at Myrtis E. Herndon Field and swept the Fighting Scots in Wooster, Ohio on Saturday, April 16.
The Big Red are led by senior outfielder Claire Powell, who batted .436/.477/.607 with 43 runs scored and 18 RBI. As a team, Denison hit .323/.372/.487.
In the circle, freshman Sydney Silverstein paced the Big Red with a 3.58 ERA and 28 strikeouts over 58.2 innings pitched, while as a team, Denison allowed opponents to hit .341 with a 4.86 ERA.
As the No. 1 seed, DePauw will host the double-elimination tournament, with Hiram and Denison kicking things off on Saturday, May 7 at 9 a.m., followed by the Fighting Scots and Tigers facing off at 11 a.m.
The tournament was originally scheduled to begin on Friday, May 6, but was pushed back a day due to inclement weather.
The winners of the opening round games will move to the winner's bracket at play at 2 p.m., while the losers will match up at 4:30 p.m.
The 2022 NCAC Softball Tournament will wrap up on Sunday, May 8, with the championship game scheduled for 12:30 p.m., and the if-necessary game scheduled to follow at 3 p.m.
Hiram opens the 2022 NCAC Softball Tournament as the No. 2 seed and will open the tournament in Greencastle, Ind. against No. 3-seeded Dension on Saturday, May 7 at 9:00 a.m.
