Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

BEREA, Ohio – The Otterbein University softball team notched its third Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) regular-season championship in a row Saturday following a sweep of Baldwin Wallace.

The Cardinals, which finish this spring with a 15-3 mark in league play, are the first team since Ohio Northern in 2011 to claim their third-straight conference regular-season title, that year coming in a tie between the Polar Bears and John Carroll.

Otterbein has lost no more than three games in each of its last three championship seasons, also reaching the 30-win mark in two of those including now in consecutive years.

As a result of yet another banner-hanging season, the Cards will be the No. 1-seed and host the OAC Tournament scheduled for next week, May 4-6 in Westerville, Ohio. A tournament page complete with details regarding schedule of games, ticket prices, etc. will be posted to the team's schedule page on Monday.

Game One – Won, 4-0

Yet another solid performance in the circle from junior Gabby Johnson helped highlight the title-clinching victory, as she went the distance striking out nine batters in the process for her fifth shutout and 10th complete-game.

The Cardinals again jumped right on their opponent to leadoff the game, registering two runs on four hits which included back-to-back base hits from the first two batters, junior Alyson Shaw and senior Maddie Flasco.

It was senior Megan Garner who then drove in the team's first run of the game on a single down the left field line, before fellow senior Rachael Owens made it 2-0 in favor of Otterbein with a base hit in the next at-bat.

Baldwin Wallace (16-16, 9-9 OAC) missed out on perhaps its best scoring opportunity of the contest in the bottom half of the first, as with runners on the corners and one out Johnson induced a pop-up followed by a strikeout.

The fourth inning proved to be the only other scoring output for the Cards as senior Bailey McElwain launched a two-run home run, her ninth of the year, to become the program's all-time hits leader (208) by surpassing previous mark of 207 held by Molly Riggs (2014-17) and Laura Basford (2011-14).

Johnson sent the Yellow Jackets down in order in the last half of the seventh frame, improving to 14-2 on the season. Shaw and Owens each tallied a multi-hit game in the lid lifter.

Game Two – Won, 1-0

Not much offense in game two but a pitching duel was on display between Owens for Otterbein and BW's Sam Mott, as the two combined to allow just two hits through the first four innings of action.

The offensive highlight came in the top of the sixth inning as Garner stepped up to the plate and drove in Shaw on a run-scoring base hit to left field with one out.

Owens closed out the game and continued to dominate, finishing with three strikeouts after allowing just five hits. Mott also posted a valiant effort for the Yellow Jackets striking out four Cardinal batters.