Coming into Friday afternoon's doubleheader with Ohio Northern, the Otterbein softball team was running on three days rest, as rain had pushed the regularly scheduled for Wednesday games back to Friday. That may have been a little bit too much time off for the Cardinal hitters, as they found themselves trailing the Polar Bears 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning. In what seems to be a trend for the season, the bats came to life in the late innings, tallying four runs on four hits, a walk and a hit-batter. The big blow came on a two-out, two-run double from freshman Rachael Owens, tying the game at four.
Otterbein took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth inning on RBIs from freshmen Maddie Flasko, Bailey McElwain and Megan Garner. Owens shut the Polar Bears down one-two-three in the seventh inning, securing the 7-4 win for the Cardinals. The complete game from Owens was just what the doctor ordered for Otterbein, as it conserved their pitching for the next three games in under 24 hours.
Game two of the Friday afternoon double-header proved to be a back-and-forth affair with Ohio Northern once again jumping out to an early 2-0 lead. Sophomore Tayler Sbrocco drove in the first run of the game for the Cardinals in the third inning, doubling in sophomore Courtney Hanna. The Polar Bears got that run back in the top of the fourth on an RBI single, pushing their lead back to two at 3-1. After a walk and a wild pitch allowed Otterbein to tie the game at three, Sbrocco came up big again, with another RBI double, this time scoring freshman Hannah Smith. Ohio Northern once again answered with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning, once again knotting the game up at four.
The Cardinals hitters were undeterred, as they dialed up two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, after an error and an RBI single from Smith that scored Owens from second base. An RBI single from Garner in the sixth inning extended the Otterbein lead to three at 7-4. In the top of the seventh inning, the first two Polar Bears reached, before the next two flew out to left field, giving the Cards only one out to get. However, three straight two-out singles gave the Polar Bears the lead, 8-7. Otterbein got the tying run to second base with one out, but a line-drive to the center fielder and the throw back to second base ended the Cardinals threat.
Following the split, head coach Christine Steines was disappointed, but didn't use the four games in two days stretch as an excuse "We don't change our game plan based on the opponent or situation. We have our plan coming in and we stick to it. We're always playing for the next at-bat, we're not worried about the score."
Saturday afternoon saw the Blue Streaks of John Carroll travel to Westerville to take on the Cardinals in another OAC double-header. Game one proved to be a very interesting affair. John Carroll got on the board in the second inning with a two-run home run to take a 2-0 lead. The contest just flew along until the bottom of the fifth when McElwain singled in Hanna to cut the deficit to one at 2-1. Then, in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Blue Streaks put the game seemingly out of reach with eight runs on the strength of three home runs, including a grand slam. In the bottom half of the inning, Otterbein stormed back with an offensive display of their own, scoring seven runs on six hits and a walk. Sbrocco singled in freshman Jess Casciotti, sophomore Molly Riggs doubled in Hanna and sophomore Kennedy Daly, Flasco doubled in Riggs and Sbrocco and then Garner capped of the inning with a two-run home run, making the score 10-8.
The Blue Streaks offense just couldn't be stopped however, as in the top of the seventh another three-run home run pushed their lead back out to five at 13-8. Otterbein loaded the bases in the bottom half of the seventh, but a bang-bang play at first base ended their comeback hopes.
Game two proved to be a much different type of game, as offense was hard to come by for both teams. John Carroll scored a run in the first, and then another run in the second to take an early 2-0 lead. Otterbein scored a run in the bottom of the second on an RBI double from Hanna, scoring Owens from second. The Blue Streaks added a run in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly, giving them a two-run lead once again. In the bottom half of the inning, the Cardinals answered right back on an RBI single from Sophomore Kate Lewis that scored Owens from third. The score stayed this way until the bottom of the fifth when Otterbein tied the game on an RBI single from Garner that scored Flasco from second.
Eventually the Cardinals were able to take the lead in the sixth inning when Sbrocco singled in sophomore Chey Rowe. McElwain added two insurance runs with a two-out, two-run single that scored Hanna and Sbrocco, making the score 6-3. Lewis shut down the Blue Streaks in order to close out the game in the seventh inning, giving the Cardinals their second OAC split in two days.
When asked about the emotions of being on the mound in the last inning Lewis said "I had no doubt in my mind that our defense was going to make the plays we needed. I was comfortable out there and I knew we were going to make the plays we needed."
Otterbein started the year 3-11, but they have gone 8-4 over their last twelve contests. When asked about the maturation of her young team that features only one upperclassman and no seniors, Steines said "We have a vision that we follow. We trust in our process, we just have to trust the process. These games are all about getting stronger, I could schedule us a bunch of kindergarten teams, but we wouldn't get any better. I schedule good teams, and we don't worry about the score, we just take it at-bat by at-bat. Its all about getting stronger."
Following this weekend's games, the Cardinals are now 11-15 and 7-5 in the OAC, which pushes them into a tie for fourth place in the conference with Ohio Northern. The next games for Otterbein will be on Tuesday in Wilmington, before they return home to play their final two home games of the year on April 18 against Muskingum.
