Brady Lester and Kaid Carpenter are together again and Mount Vernon Nazarene baseball fans couldn’t be happier.

The former Fredericktown teammates have put on a season-long show for the Cougars.

Both juniors, Lester and Carpenter combine to form the heart of the MVNU order — Lester bats third and Carpenter is the clean-up hitter. They rank among team leaders in virtually every offensive category.

Lester, MVNU’s everyday center fielder, is hitting .333 with seven doubles, a team-leading six home runs and 33 runs batted in. 

Carpenter, who is primarily a first baseman but has seen time at third and on the pitcher’s mound, is batting .304 with a team-high 15 doubles and 22 RBIs. He’s 0-1 with a 6.43 earned run average and nine strikeouts in seven innings of work across four pitching appearances.

Mount Vernon is 18-19 overall and 8-16 in Crossroads League action. The Cougars travel to Indiana Wesleyan for a four-game series beginning Thursday.

Bulldog batter

The Muskingum University softball team is ranked 25th in the nation in Division III thanks in part to East Knox graduate Natalie Smith.

A junior first baseman, Smith is batting .333 with two doubles, a home run and 11 runs batted in. Her grand slam in the top of the seventh at Ohio Northern last week lifted the Muskies to an 11-8 win. 

Muskingum was 18-4 overall and 3-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference going into last week’s doubleheader at Marietta.

Soar with the Eagles

Mount Vernon product Konner Daughriety is finding his footing at Ashland University.

A redshirt freshman utility player, Daughriety has appeared in nine games with four starts for AU (21-11, 10-6 Great Midwest Athletic Conference). He’s batting .167 and has knocked in a run.

Double Duty

Danville’s Grace Gronberg is doing it all in her sophomore season at Bluffton.

Gronberg is batting .417 with 14 RBIs and a team-leading four home runs. In the pitcher’s circle, she’s 6-3 with a 4.51 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 66.2 innings of work.

The Beavers are 11-9 overall and 1-3 in Heartland Conference action.

Shooting Star

Mount Vernon grad Addi Parker is a mainstay in the Capital University pitching rotation.

A sophomore, Parker is 3-3 with a 4.43 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 42.2 innings of work.

The Comets are 12-8 overall and 2-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference.