Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

WESTERVILLE, OHIO – The Cardinals clinched their first appearance in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament since 2006 with a sweep of Capital University, winning 6-1 in game one and 6-3 in game two.

Otterbein University concludes their 2012 regular-season with a 26-14 overall record and an 11-7 mark in the OAC. The 26 wins are the most in program history and unseats the 2007 and 2011 teams that finished with 23 wins. Meanwhile, the Crusaders finish their season at 21-17 overall, 6-10 in the conference.

The Cardinals will join Ohio Northern University, John Carroll University, and the University of Mount Union in the OAC Tournament.  Otterbein will open the double-elimination tournament with John Carroll on Friday, May 4.

The Cardinals received a record-breaking day from sophomore Laura Basford. She combined to hit 6-for-8 with two RBIs, a triple, and three stolen bases. With her performance, Basford broke the Otterbein record for hits and stolen bases in a single-season. The previous record for hits was set by Cari Dean in 2001 (62), and the record for steals was set by Gwen Jefferies in 1996 (28).

She also tied the Otterbein record for triples in a career. She is now tied with Angie Wilson (1996-99) and Erin Springer (1999-02) with 14 triples all-time.

The Cardinals struck first in their 6-1 game one win and did not relinquish the lead at any point.

Otterbein took an early 2-0 advantage in the first when junior Erin Carpenter hit a two-RBI single.

Capital closed the gap to one in the fifth when Maura Rose hit a towering home run that barely stayed fair, and made the score 2-1.

But the Cardinals responded with two runs in the bottom of the fifth and sixth to extend their lead to 6-1 and out of the Crusaders reach.

Sophomore Maggie McMahan (7-5) earned the win for Otterbein. She limited the Crusaders to one run on six hits with striking out five in six innings pitched.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start game two and limited Capital to five hits in their 6-3 win.

Otterbein went up 1-0 after Basford led the bottom of the first off with a triple down the right field line. She then scored on an errant throw by the Capital right fielder.

After they added two runs in the third to go up 3-0, the Cardinals tacked on three more in the fourth on five hits to go up 6-0.

The Crusaders cut the deficit to four with a two-run home run in the fifth to make the score 6-2.

Capital threatened in the seventh when they scored with a bases-loaded hit-batsman to make the game 6-3. With the tying-run on first base, sophomore pitcher Chelsea Burns forced the Crusader batter to pop-up to the shortstop to end the game.

Sophomore Kelsey Long (10-4) picked up the win for Otterbein. She allowed two runs (zero earned) on just four hits and struck out two in five innings pitched.

Both teams wore special uniforms to support breast cancer awareness, and survivors with connections to both teams were honored prior to the first game.

The Cardinals will begin post-season play this Friday, May 4, when they head to Ada for the OAC Tournament. Otterbein is scheduled to play John Carroll at 11 a.m. in their opening game. For more information about the OAC Tournament, click here.