Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein softball team claimed both games of a doubleheader against Kenyon on Sunday afternoon in its first home matchup of the 2017 season.

The Cardinals, now 11-2 overall, have now won three-straight games dating back to last week's split at Mount St. Joseph and will travel to Wittenberg this coming Tuesday for a doubleheader. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in Springfield, Ohio.

Game One (Won, 10-2 in 6 innings)

Otterbein down 1-0 to begin the game after junior pitcher Rachael Owens allowed a pair of hits and the Cardinal defense committed an error to help push a run across for Kenyon.

Owens did not look back from that point forward, going five innings in full allowing just two more hits and one additional run to the Ladies while fanning five batters.

The Cardinal offense conversely woke up in the bottom half of the second inning beginning with a leadoff home run to left field off the bat of junior Megan Garner to tie the game followed by a run-scoring double from freshman Courtney Hackney three batters later.

Otterbein then posted seven runs between the third and fourth frames, amounting seven hits and nine base runners including back-to-back home runs from juniors Maddie Flasco and Bailey McElwain in the fourth.

Kenyon got back one run in the fifth inning on a solo home run to left field, before freshman Kasey Morris closed out the ninth inning allowing no hits and striking out one.

Flasco, McElwain and Garner each recorded a multi-hit outing, while Owens improved to 6-2 on the year in the circle.

Game Two (Won, 17-5 in 5 innings)

The Cardinals kept the offensive attack going in game two starting with a three-run first inning after compiling a trio of hits and six base runners.

Owens got the scoring going for the Cards with a run-producing single to center field four batters in, before McElwain scored on a wild pitch and fellow junior Savannah Sarkine drove in Owens on a single to center.

Kenyon promptly responded with three-straight hits to begin the second inning, including back-to-back home runs which led to sophomore pitcher Anna Edwards relieving sophomore starting pitcher Gabby Johnson with a 3-3 tie at hand.

Edwards sent the next three Kenyon batters down in order to get out of the inning with no further damage. Otterbein regained the lead in the bottom half of the frame with a trio of two-out hits, with two runs crossing the plate following Garner's double to right center.

The Ladies tied the game at five apiece after putting together a two-run top half of the third, before the Cardinal offense erupted for 11 runs in the bottom half.

The inning began with freshman Courtney Hackney reaching on an error before two other Cardinal hitters advanced on a wild pitch and a hit by pitch, leading to six-consecutive hits by Otterbein which scored seven runs.

Perhaps the exclamation point on the inning was made by Morris, who broke the tie earlier in the frame with a pinch-hit single, when she blasted a two-out grand slam over the right center field fence to inflate the Cards' lead to 16-5.

The Cards plated an additional run the following inning beginning with back-to-back pinch-hit singles from freshmen Dani McCauley and Miranda Fearigo, before classmate Alex McComb lofted a pinch-hit single to right field for her first collegiate run batted in.

Edwards picked up the win and improved to 2-0 on the season, while seven players recorded two or more hits with Morris leading the way for the Cards with a game-high five runs batted in.