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WESTERVILLE, Ohio - The No. 20-ranked Cardinal softball team wrapped up its 2016 regular-season campaign on Monday, falling to Heidelberg in game one, 9-6, before salvaging the twin-bill with a 9-7 win in extra innings.

The doubleheader was played in honor of the Max Cure Foundation, specifically the Roar Beyond Barriers branch spearheaded by John Carroll alum, John Agin, who lost his daughter to pediatric at the age of four. Otterbein chose to wear black uniforms with white lettering in support of lung cancer, while Heidelberg wore grey uniforms with teal lettering to represent brain and ovarian cancer.

The Cardinals, who finish the regular season with a single-season program record of 29 wins overall, will host the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament May 6-8 after clinching the regular-season championship on Apr. 20. Otterbein will play as the No. 1-seed and will host fourth-seeded Heidelberg on Friday at noon.

Game 1

Otterbein was first to ink the scoreboard on a run-scoring single by sophomore Bailey McElwain, which scored junior Chey Rowe who led the game off with a single. Heidelberg followed two innings later with a game-tying double, boosting its momentum for the next inning.

The Student Princes plated five runs on seven hits and a pair of errors on the Cardinal defense in the top of the fourth inning. McElwain injected a little life into the Cards in the bottom half of the inning, connecting on a solo home run over the fence in center field.

Heidelberg managed to tack on a three-run inning in the sixth, inflating its lead to 9-2. McElwain provided three more runs for Otterbein in the last half of the seventh inning, blasting her second home run of the game on a three-run shot over the center field fence.

Starting pitcher Rachael Owens exited the game after three and a third innings pitched, surrendering six runs, three earned, on eight hits and a pair of walks. Freshman Gabby Johnson came on in relief to throw three and two thirds innings, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out six batters.

McElwain finished the game 4-for-4 with five runs batted in, this coming in a game where 23 hits and six errors occured between the two teams. 

Game 2

Johnson surrendered a two-run home run to the Berg in the first inning, but settled down from there to toss six and a third innings allowing seven runs, three earned, on eight hits, one walk, and three strikeouts.

McElwain mashed her league-leading 10th home run of the year in the third inning, driving in Rowe and sophomore Maddie Flasco who both singled. The Cardinal offense exploded in the fifth inning, scoring four runs on four hits and a pair of errors by the Berg defense.

The Berg then manufactured a scoring run of its own in the seventh inning, scoring five runs on six hits and two errors on the Otterbein defense, tying the game at seven apiece. Heidelberg had runners on second and third with one out in the top half of the eighth inning, but failed to score as sophomore pitcher Hannah Smith forced back-to-back groundouts to end the inning.

McElwain was intentionally walked with two outs in the bottom of the inning, setting the table for classmate Megan Garner who hit a two-run, walk-off home run to give the Cards some momentum heading into the postseason. She and McElwain combined for seven runs batted in, all part of a comeback win.