Otterbein's softball team (7-9, 2-4 OAC) lost 3-2 and 7-4 in an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader against Mount Union's softball team (23-3, 6-0 OAC).
In the opener, the Raiders scored two quick runs in the top of the third inning. In the bottom of the fourth, Cardinal junior Janelle Jones answered back with a solo home run.
"After hitting the first home run, I thought, all right hopefully this gives us some momentum to keep going and come out with a victory," said Jones.
The score remained 2-1 until the top of the seventh inning when senior Lindsey Rower of Mount Union added a solo home run making the score 3-1. Jones responded with another solo home run in the bottom of the seventh.
"At this point I really thought that we had a great chance of winning," said Jones. "But we just weren't able to pull it off."
In the first game, Otterbein only had four hits, two runs and two errors compared to Mount Union's 11 hits, three runs and no errors.
In the second game, the Raiders connected with the ball early in the first inning.
The Cardinals allowed three runs in the first inning.
The Raiders added another run the next inning, giving the Raiders a 4-0 lead.
The Raiders extended their lead to 7-0 by the end of the fourth inning. This would be the end of Mount Union's scoring rally.
The Cardinal's bats didn't come to life until around the sixth inning.
The first batter, junior Kendy Beers, singled through the left side. Then junior Tressa Ragor tripled to right center allowing Beers to score.
Freshmen Kirsti King flew out to second base. Ragor was able to make it home off of the sacrifice.
The Cardinals second-hitting rally came in the bottom of the seventh inning. Bernard and junior Erica Walter all walked. This loaded the bases for Beers, who doubled to left field bringing in two RBIs. Beers' two RBIs cut Mount Union's lead to only three, with only one out.But Ragor flew out to left and Felicia Vermaaten grounded out to end the game.
"After only losing 3-2 in the first game, I thought we had some confidence going into the second game," said Jones. "We didn't make things happen until the bottom of the seventh, and at that point we ended four runs shy of a victory."
Coach Deb Torman hopes to get back on track after the Mount Union losses by focusing on Ohio Northern. "We need to make adjustments and go strong after Ohio Northern," said Torman. "If we want to make the conference tournament we need to bounce back from these losses and get back into the hunt by beating Ohio Northern."
The Cardinals are 2-4 in the OAC, but they still have a chance to make a strong comeback. "We still have six conference games left to play, and we still have a lot of fight left," said Bernard. "We're very strong and very capable and we just need to stay optimistic."
"All in all, I feel that this is the most well-rounded team I have yet to be part of here at Otterbein," said Jones. "When our pitchers are on, our hitters are hitting, and our defense is solid, I feel that we are able to beat anyone."
Otterbein's next game is at John Carrol University. Game time is 1 p.m. t&c;
