Call her the Sultaness of Swat or the Contessa of Clout. Or refer to her the way some of her teammates at Ohio Northern University do ... the Great Bambino.

Any references linking Yankees home run great Babe Ruth and Tina Mangola are justified.

A Seneca Valley High School graduate and right fielder at Ohio Northern, Mangola is rewriting the university's softball record book for home run on a daily basis. And she is just a sophomore.

She almost became the Polar Bears' career home run leader last season when she smacked 12 round-trippers. The school's all-time record was 14.

The operative word is was. Mangola cruised past that figure early this season.

Through Wednesday, Mangola had hit eight home runs this year. With just a season and three-quarters under her college batting gloves, she ranks first in home runs, first in career batting average (.489), fifth in RBIs (82), sixth in runs (96), tied for sixth in doubles (22) and tied for 13th in stolen bases (23).

She was the Ohio Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week for April 7-13. All she did in that span was hit .667 (14 for 21) with 3 home runs, 11 RBIs and 5 doubles in six games.

"She has just great hand-eye coordination," Ohio Northern coach Annette Shepherd said. "And when she hits home runs, she doesn't hit ones that just make it over the fence. She hits high, deep drives. She's hit a few that had to go 250 feet."

That's putting a charge into a softball and leads to the notion that Mangola, who played softball and basketball at Seneca Valley, was a slugger in high school.

Nope.

"I don't think I hit more than four or five home runs in any season in high school," she said. "Maybe the most I ever hit while playing in the summer or anytime was six or seven."

If that's the case, then where does all of this power come from all of a sudden?

"I don't know," she said. "I've lifted weights more the past couple of years and that's helped some, but I can't explain it."

What else is interesting about Mangola's home-run barrage is that she doesn't bat in a power spot in the lineup. Shepherd has her hitting second, a place usually reserved for players with outstanding bat control and bunting ability.

"I have her second because our leadoff hitter has an on-base percentage of .700," Shepherd said. "So, when Tina comes up, there's somebody on base for her to drive in most of the time."

Mangola also isn't just a swing-for-the-fences hitter. Her batting average after 28 games -- Ohio Northern was 20-8 overall, 9-3 in the OAC heading into yesterday's game at Mount Union -- was second on the team with a .478 average (43 for 90), 11 doubles, 3 triples and 33 RBIs.

"I didn't know she would be a power hitter when we started to recruit her," Shephard said. "I never thought she'd hit home runs like this, but I knew she would hit."

Shephard first saw Mangola play in the summer in a NSA tournament near Ohio Northern, which is in Ada, Ohio, -- about 90 minutes south of Toledo.

Mangola was attracted to Ohio Northern because, at the time, she wanted to major in pharmacy. The school has an outstanding reputation in that area.

"And I liked the coaches and the other players on the team," she said. "But the pharmacy was the reason I was interested in coming here."

She has since changed her major to education and wouldn't mind coaching and teaching.

There was another reason Shephard started to recruit Mangola.

"When I saw we went to the same high school, I had to talk to her," said Shephard, who is in her fifth season as the Polar Bears head coach and graduated from Seneca Valley High School ... in Maryland. "I even think our school colors were the same."

Mangola was recruited as a catcher, the position she played in high school. She did play in the outfield some while playing summer ball with the Pittsburgh Spirit.

She happened to be shagging fly balls in the outfield one day when she caught Shephard's eye.

"We put her out there [right field] in practice and she's making these diving catches, and she had a strong arm," Shephard said. "We decided to keep her out there."

As a freshman, Mangola hit .489 with 11 doubles, 49 RBIs and 59 runs. Her slugging percentage was an eye-popping .876, she won the OAC triple crown and was a third-team NCAA Division III All-American.

All of the hype and gaudy statistics could have easily gone to her head, but they haven't. She is modest -- "I don't like talking too much about myself," she said -- and grounded in the idea that hitting three consecutive home runs doesn't mean much if the Polar Bears lose.

"If I don't hit any home runs and we win, that's good enough for me," she said.

Last year, Ohio Northern won the OAC regular-season title with a 15-3 record, finished 32-10-1 overall and set 16 school records in the process. So, Mangola was pleased most of the time.

Next year, there will be two Mangola's on the Ohio Northern roster. Tina's younger sister, Jackie, who is an infielder at Seneca Valley, plans to enroll at ONU and join the team.

They talk often on the phone and compare notes from games.

"She hit two home runs in a game last week," said Mangola, referring to her younger sister's two home run performance in an 8-1 victory against Butler.

Anybody for Ohio Northern's version of the M&M girls?