Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

GRANVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein softball team posted its first split of the year after falling at Denison in game one Wednesday night before shutting out the Big Red in game two in a non-conference battle amidst slippery conditions due to recent rainfall.

The Cardinals (13-5 overall) will rejoin Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play Friday afternoon at Muskingum, which enters the matchup a stellar 16-2 overall and currently matches Otterbein's 2-0 mark in the league. First pitch of game one is slated for 1 p.m.

Game One | Lost 7-2

Denison (5-3 overall) benefited from a 10-hit outing and was first to ink the scoreboard in the second inning after recording a three-hit frame.

Otterbein responded with two hits to start the following inning and eventually tied the game at one apiece on a run-scoring single to center field off the bat of senior Maddie Flasco, which scored junior Alyson Shaw.

Neither team scored in the fourth inning as the two sides combined for just three hits, before the Big Red posted its best inning of the night with four runs after tallying one hit, a walk while also planting a pair of base runners on a fielder's choice and an error on the Cardinal defense.

The Big Red added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, before senior Maria Reed chipped in a pinch-hit single before freshman Kristen Zink re-entered and scored on a single from Shaw.

Junior Gabby Johnson, the reigning OAC 'Pitcher of the Week,' suffered her first loss of the season after surrendering five runs, four earned, in four innings with a handful of strikeouts. Classmate Anna Edwards threw the remainder of the game and gave up two runs.

Game Two | Won 6-2

Senior Rachael Owens recorded a solid outing for the Cards in her third complete-game, allowing just two runs with only one earned, to the Big Red.

Other than an early miscue, Otterbein was sound all around on both sides of the ball registering six hits through as many innings with two runs in the first and a trio in the third to take control in the early going.

Shaw set the table for the Cards by drawing a lead-off walk to begin the contest before Flasco made it two-straight base runners after reaching on a fielder's choice.

Sophomore Courtney Hackney then reached base safely on a Denison error, which scored Shaw, before freshman Katrina Wierzbicki belted a run-scoring double.

Senior Bailey McElwain and Hackney resumed the Cardinal attack to start the third inning, before Wierzbicki again lifted the team with a two-run single.

Two batters later, Owens helped herself out on the offensive end as well after moving Wierzbicki, who would score on a wild pitch, and Reed up a base on a sacrifice bunt.

Denison collected a run in the last half of both the sixth and seventh innings, while Otterbein boosted its lead back to five runs in the top of the seventh capitalizing on the Big Red's second error.

Owens was awarded the victory in the circle after going the distance with a season-best six strikeouts, walking just one batter in the process while forcing 10 groundouts. On the night, Wierzbicki went 4-for-7 with a double, three runs batted-in and one run scored to lead the charge.