WESTERVILLE, OHIO—The Otterbein University softball team swept a pair of doubleheaders this week, knocking off Wilmington College, 10-0 and 6-0, and the College of Mount St. Joseph, 14-3 and 8-0. The sweep of Wilmington moved the Cardinals to 4-4 in the Ohio Athletic Conference and into a tie for fourth place with Baldwin Wallace College.
The Cardinals improved to 17-9 overall with the four victories, and have won five straight.
Otterbein’s offense came to life in the second inning of game one against Wilmington. The Quakers walked the bases loaded, and with two outs freshman Laura Basford singled to drive in two runs and junior Casey Clarridge followed with a double to knock in two more runs, giving the Cardinals an early 4-0 lead.
In the third inning Otterbein plated six more runs giving freshman pitcher Kelsey Long more than enough run support to pick up her sixth win on the season.
It was two-out hitting that sparked the Cardinals’ offense again in the second game. After sophomores Erin Carpenter and Brooke Albright walked and singled to put runners on first and second, freshman Kayla Woodward doubled driving in both runners to stake the Cardinals to an early 2-0 lead.
Basford led Otterbein’s hitting attack against the Quakers with three hits, including a double, and four RBI. Clarridge and Carpenter drove in three runs apiece.
The offense continued its hot hitting against Mount St. Josephs on Thursday. They scored five runs in the third inning of game one when they knocked around the Lions pitching for two triples, by Basford and senior shortstop Megan Studebaker, and a double by Carpenter.
Mount St. Joseph answered with three runs in the bottom half of the third, but the Cardinals responded with four in the fifth and four more in the sixth to win in six innings.
Basford paced the offense again with five hits, including two triples, and six RBIs in the two games. Studebaker drove in two with four hits, two triples, and Carpenter had four hits.
Otterbein returns to the diamond on Sunday, April 17 when they host the University of Mount Union in a key conference doubleheader. Mount Union sits in third place in the conference.
