One year removed from last season's 2-6 record over spring break in Florida, the Otterbein softball team returned to Westerville with a sterling record. The Cardinals found a variety of ways to win games. Whether they were close, extra-inning affairs, or five-inning blowouts, the results were the same, an Otterbein victory.
After spending spring break in Florida, the Cardinals arrived home in Westerville having gone undefeated, 11-0 for the week. The first three games featured the hitting and speed that this young Cardinals team possesses. Through the first three contests, Otterbein hitters tallied 40 hits including five doubles, four triples and an inside-the-park home run. The Cardinals won those games 16-0, 5-3 and 11-0.
Games four through seven were all tightly contested ballgames, with each one being decided by three runs or fewer. The Cardinals won 4-3 in eight innings against Hanover (Indiana) behind the stellar pitching of freshman Gabby Johnson, who went the entirety of the game. Sophomore Bailey McElwain hit her first home run of the year in the game.
McElwain played the hero the next day, as her two-run home run was the difference in the team's 2-1 victory over Wartburg College. The second game of the day saw a sparkling performance on the mound from Johnson, as she twirled her first career shutout, in a 3-0 win over Rose-Hulman. Not to be outdone, sophomore Rachael Owens scored her third shutout of the year, in the next game, against Cabrini College, and drove in the only two runs of the game, as the Cardinals won 2-0.
The final three games of the trip saw the Cardinals bash out 43 runs on 51 hits, including 12 extra-base hits. The game tallies were 11-3, 19-1 and 13-9.
The third game, against York College, was one that will always stand out from all of the others. Owens recorded her first career no-hitter, limiting the Spartans to just one walk over five innings, while striking out nine. Owens had come close in game one, as she allowed just one hit and a walk, striking out five.
Head Coach Christine Steines said she was happy with her team's improvement and growth compared to last year's spring trip.
"Having the experience and knowing that they could win was the difference in going and just playing," Steines said. "We were playing to win and not just going to play."
She also explained how the team approaches every game the same. "We didn't look at any game as being any different, whether we won 5-3 or the seventh inning or the eighth inning or we dominated from the get-go."
Since returning home, the Cardinals have played two games, which they split against Mount Saint Joseph, 6-4 and 2-7. Owens picked up her seventh win of the young season, bringing her record to 7-0 with a 1.56 ERA.
The team now sits at 11-1 and played its first home games of the year this Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m. against undefeated Wittenberg, who, like Otterbein, finished their spring trip 10-0. Otterbein will open OAC play on Friday March 25 at Muskingum.
