PHOTO GALLERY (coming soon)

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein softball team hosted Wilmington in the season finale for both teams on a Saturday afternoon filled with varied weather reports, as teams across the state attempt to squeeze finale games into the schedule amidst ever-changing conditions.

The Cardinals dropped a pair on the scoreboard by counts of 9-5 and 11-0 against the Quakers, and will unfortunately miss the OAC Tournament in the process. Otterbein slips back to a tie for sixth in the standings, with their official finish still to be determined based on other pending results around the league.

Prior to first pitch, the program hosted Senior Day in celebrating a pair of fourth-year contributors in Caroline Heller and Megan Payne… who graced the field with their families. Heller, a business management major, will be returning to play a fifth year while Payne, majoring in allied health, is heading over to Ohio State for pursuit of a doctorate in physical therapy.

GAME ONE BREAKDOWN:

Riley Hamm pitched a clean top of the first as nasty rain arrived, forcing the game into an hour-long delay. After members from both schools joined for tarp duty, the Otterbein players later used it as a slip-'n-slide, and roughly 130 bags of turface situated the infield, we were back to ball.

Otterbein delivered the first blow with a towering three-run homer off the bat of Emma Calkins, and later clung to a 3-2 margin entering the fourth. The Quakers had two outs and two on, before ripping off a difference-making rally...

Wilmington jumped ahead with a 2-RBI single, and then took full advantage of a throwing error by the Cardinals that prolonged the inning. The next five WC hitters reached base, including back-to-back doubles, that forced a pitching change and led to seven total runs on the board.

Otterbein attempted to slice into that 9-3 deficit moving forward, but a tough double-play sequence in the sixth halted any momentum there. The Cards made a little noise in their last at-bat on a one-out double from Heller and then RBI singles from Rachel Miller and Isa Lewis, before running out of steam.

The game saw a combined 21 hits between the sides, including Miller going 3 for 4 in the five hole. Kennedi Endsley and Chloe Clark each smacked two hits.
Reliever Kiley King was clean over the final 3.1 innings to finish this spring with a team-best 3.74 E.R.A.

GAME TWO BREAKDOWN:

Wilmington slowly built a lead behind starting pitcher Hillary Huffer, who would go on to allow just two hits the entire rematch. Her offense posted solo runs in the first and second before finding a groove with multip runs in each of the next three..

The Quakers plated three in the third, two in the fourth and then another quartet in the fifth. All four of those runs came with two outs once again, as a double from Sam Schwab with the bases loaded served as the backbreaker.

Schwab ended the game with seven RBI and a pair of home runs while Huffer earned a shutout.

Heller and McVicker represented the Cardinal hits while Endsley finishes the spring with a team-high .423 batting average from the leadoff spot… ranking her Top 10 in the league. Payne concludes her senior campaign with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage (over 210 chances) at first base.