Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

NEW CONCORD, Ohio - The Otterbein University softball team swept Muskingum in the team's Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) opener on Friday, winning game one, 7-1, before taking game two, 13-8.

Otterbein (15-2-1 overall) now switches gears back to non-conference play with a trip to Kenyon next Wednesday. First pitch of game one of the doubleheader is set for 3 p.m. in Gambier, Ohio. 

Game 1

Sophomore pitcher Rachael Owens continued her solid start to the season, going seven strong innings while holding the Muskies to one run on eight hits. Owens also helped her cause at the plate by going 2-for-4 with a run scored and one run batted in. 

The Cardinals trailed 1-0 after one frame before sophomore Megan Garner and Owens recorded back-to-back base hits to begin the second inning. Junior Tory Speakman gave Otterbein its first lead two batters later on a two-run single to right field. 

Otterbein loaded the bases two innings later on a pair of base hits and an error by the Muskies, setting the table for pinch-hitter Kennedy Daly. Daly smacked a two-run double to right center field, giving the Cards a 4-1 advantage with runs from junior Niki Weaver and Speakman. 

The Cards plated a trio of runs in the final inning, jump started by a leadoff triple from freshman Alyson Shaw. Junior Chey Rowe singled to left center in the next at-bat, easily scoring Shaw from third base. Two additional Cardinal players reached base before Garner and Owens again tallied one-run base hits to secure the victory. 

Game 2

The Cardinals carried their offensive output into game two, manufacturing a four-run first inning thanks to Garner and Speakman conitnuing their solid efforts at the plate with a run-scoring hits. Garner drove in the initial run for the Cards on a single up the middle that scored sophomore Bailey McElwain, who reached on a fielder's choice and stole second. 

Owens and junior Molly Riggs then worked consecutive walks to load the bases for a three-run double to right center by Speakman, giving the team an early lead. Muskingum got one run back in the bottom half of the frame, only to surrender a solo home run to Owens two innings later.

Otterbein would score eight more runs over the next three innings, collecting 11 hits as a team over that span, while holding off a fifth inning rally by the Muskies in which they scored five runs on seven hits. Sophomore pitcher Hannah Smith earned the start in game two for the Cards, going three innings while allowing four runs on five hits and striking out two Muskie batters.

Freshmen Meggin Kelley and Gabby Johnson came on in relief of Smith, with Johnson claiming her fifth win of the year after tossing three and a third innings of three-hit ball in which she allowed a pair of runs. 

Speakman closed out her solid day going a combined 4-for-8 with seven runs batted in and one run scored. Garner finished the day also at 4-for-8 with three runs batted in and two runs scored.