CLERMONT, Fla. – To call opening day for the Otterbein softball team "wacky" would be a complete understatement, as the Cardinals endured madness Sunday at The Spring Games before a thrilling final result in its lone contest.

The Cardinals, who spent two hours sorting out van issues the day before, were ready to turn their attention on the diamond with a pair of games against UMass-Dartmouth and Lakeland (originally) on the schedule.

However, due to a shortage of umpires at the complex and other subsequent issues that trickled down, Otterbein had both of those opponents wiped off the slate. Upon arriving at the field around 2:45 in the afternoon, the Cards were offered a game (that started 30 minutes later) against undefeated Dominican University from Illinois.

The Stars, boasting a 5-0 record and .370 team batting average coming in, jumped on the Cardinals early with a 2-RBI single in the first inning against starting pitcher Jess Gunter.

But Gunter settled in nicely with an admirable effort from that point forward. Otterbein sliced the deficit in half with an RBI-triple from Hannah Lewis in the second frame, but Dominican got that tally back (in the fifth) for a 3-1 lead.

Down but never out, the Cards struck a rally that will long be remembered in the head coaching debut for Bruce Anderson. Gunter pinch-hit for Sami Ange on a swap in the sixth, poking a single to extend a frame that eventually saw newcomer Isa Lewis contribute a sacrifice fly that scored Macy Allen.

Otterbein then found an equalizer in the seventh when Allen drove in pinch runner Chloe Clark. The Cards nearly walked it off one batter later as Taylor Baran singled to right-center, but Allen was unfortunately gunned down at the plate to force extra innings.

Using international tiebreaker rules (where a runner is placed on second base to begin the inning), Gunter secured three-consecutive outs to bring her offense back up. Ange laid down a sac-bunt following a sequence where she was called back to the plate on the pitch prior, and Lewis ultimately ripped an RBI-single to bring around Baran and erupt the Cardinal dugout.

Gunter went the distance in the circle, overcoming the tough first inning and striking out five Stars. Four Cardinals tallied multi-hit games at the dish.
Otterbein will now look to settle into some normalcy moving forward this week, taking on Mitchell and nationally-ranked Alfred on Tuesday.