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NEW CONCORD, Ohio – The Cardinal softball team dropped a conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon, falling by scores of 5-3 and 8-3 at Muskingum University.

Otterbein, now 12-17 overall and 4-12 in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play, will return to the diamond Monday afternoon with a home doubleheader against Bluffton University. Start time is slated for 3:30 p.m.

The losses at Muskingum come just one day after a doubleheader split with Wilmington College, in which Otterbein dropped a 9-4 decision in game one before rebounding with a 3-1 victory in the second matchup.

The Cards fell behind 7-5 midway through game one against Wilmington before ultimately getting on the scoreboard in the fourth. Otterbein scored three times in its final at-bat before exhausting its final out.

Otterbein jumped ahead early in game two vs. Wilmington, orchestrating a double steal in the first inning that scored freshman Molly Riggs from third. Riggs later tallied an infield RBI-single in the third frame, but Wilmington responded right back and cut the deficit in half with a sac-fly RBI in the fourth.

Cardinal senior Callie Studebaker capped the scoring plays in the bottom of the fourth, delivering an RBI-single to right-center field that extended the Otterbein cushion to 3-1. The lead would be enough for reliever Kelsey Long, who allowed just one hit over the final three innings in picking up her first save of the season.

Otterbein faced a 3-2 deficit midway through the first game at Muskingum, but evened the contest in the fifth when senior Laura Basford, the reigning OAC Hitter of the Week, ripped a solo home run to right field.

The Muskies would have the last laugh, getting a fielder's choice RBI and taking advantage of a Cardinal throwing error to tally the difference-making runs in the sixth inning. All five Muskingum runs in the game were unearned.

Basford finished the game 3 for 4 with three runs scored while Riggs and senior Rachael Puthoff each hit safely twice.

Otterbein took an early 2-0 lead in the second affair before watching the Muskies score four runs in both the third and fourth innings. The Cards would not be able to recover en route to the loss.

Puthoff went 2 for 4 with a pair of RBI in the game while Basford tied the school's all-time record for most doubles, leading off the game with the extra-base hit.