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Box Score 2
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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein University softball team swept cross-town rival Capital on Friday, winning 3-1 in game one before taking game two in walk-off fashion, 9-7.
Otterbein (23-3-2 overall) is on an eight-game win streak and has proved victorious in its first 10 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) games. The Cardinals travel to John Carroll on Saturday for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. in University Heights, Ohio.
Game 1
Starting pitcher
Rachael Owens recorded her second-consecutive complete game, allowing just one run on six hits while fanning three Crusader batters.
Sophomore
Bailey McElwain got the Cards on the board early with a sacrifice fly that scored junior
Chey Rowe, who led the inning off with walk and then moved into scoring position with a stolen base.
The Crusaders tied the game at one apiece to begin the third inning, planting three baserunners in the inning with a pair of hits and an error on the Cardinal defense.
Rowe helped the Cards break the 1-1 tie in the bottom half of the fifth inning, drawing a leadoff walk and advancing to third base on consecutive groundouts. She then crossed the plate on a wild pitch by Capital pitcher Amber Martinelli, giving Otterbein a 2-1 advantage.
The Cardinal half of the sixth inning saw Rowe again prove vital in the team adding a run, as she struck out swinging, but reached first base on a throwing error down to first base by the Crusaders' catcher. Sophomore
Savannah Sarkine, who pinch ran earlier in the inning, was credited with the run scored.
Capital outhit Otterbein in the game, 6-5, but the Cards made the most of their run scoring opportunities thanks to heads up base running and gritty play defensively.
Game 2
Capital jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top half of the first inning, tallying five hits and taking advantage of a pair of errors on the Cardinals.
Otterbein got two runs back in the third inning, with pitcher
Meggin Kelley and sophomore
Maddie Flasco each driving in a run. Capital's Marissa Koss blasted a solo home run the next half inning, helping the Crusaders regain a run and take a 6-2 lead.
Junior
Molly Riggs cut the Cardinal deficit to 6-3 on a groundout that scored pinch runner
Amber Wuersig in the bottom of the fourth frame. The Crusaders again tacked on a run the following inning, increasing their lead to 7-3.
The Cardinals then took advantage of a Crusader miscue and three hits in their half of the fifth inning, pushing across a pair of runs to narrow the deficit to just one run heading into the final two innings of play.
Sophomore pitcher
Hannah Smith recorded six tough outs between the sixth and seventh innings, inducing three pop-ups, two groundouts and a strikeout in the process.
Flasco looped a one-out single down the left field line in the last half of the seventh inning, keeping the Cards' comeback alive. Garner then posted a two-out single through the left side of the Capital infield, setting the table for Owens' three-run, walk-off home run over the left field fence.
The home run was Owens' third of the season and her lone hit in the game. She finished the game with four runs batted in. Flasco and Garner each tallied multi-hit games, while Smith was awarded the win after tossing three and a third innings of two-hit ball.
