WESTERVILLE – The rain fell, the runs fell and the Ladies fell twice.
In less than ideal conditions, the Otterbein University Cardinals came from behind to take both games of the doubleheader against the Kenyon College softball team Friday, March 25.
Although the Ladies jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first game, the Cardinals were able to erase the deficit and take the game, 12-11. The second game proved to be more of a defensive battle, but Otterbein completed the sweep with a 4-2 win.
In the opener, Grace Finn led off the game with a single, but the Cardinals erased Finn on Sara Campagna’s fielder’s choice. Following an Emily Buckwalter walk, Bella Albrecht doubled down the line to score Campagna. An Otterbein error gave Kenyon its second run of the inning. With the bases loaded, Clare McMahon singled to center, scoring Albrecht and Emily Pater. In the next at-bat, McMahon stole second while Natalya Delsante stole home, scoring the Ladies’ fifth run. Kenyon capped off its scoring in the first with a Finn single, jumping out to a 6-0 lead.
In the home half of the first, the Cardinals sliced the Ladies’ lead in half with an RBI groundout and a pair of RBI singles.
With Kenyon up 6-3 in the bottom of the third, Otterbein used a single, stolen base, and fly out to put a runner on third base. Another RBI groundout brought the Cardinals within two, 6-4.
The Ladies restored their three-run lead on a wild pitch in the top of the fourth, but that was all Kenyon could muster until the top of the fifth. Maddie Friday walked to lead off the fifth and later stole second. Campagna brought in Friday with her double to right center, putting the Ladies up four with two innings left.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Kenyon pitching staff ran into issues. The Cardinals scored seven runs on eight hits and ended the inning against Kenyon's Tori Rogers on a fly out to left field.
With the Cardinals holding their first lead of the game, the Ladies made up the deficit in the sixth. Rogers started the inning with a double to left, moving up on Nicole Bishay’s sacrifice bunt. McMahon registered her third RBI of the game on another single up the middle to score Percy Hort, who came in to pinch-run for Rogers. With two outs, Finn drove in two more with a double to right center to tie the game at 11-11.
In the bottom half of the sixth, Otterbein scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch, bringing the score to 12-11. In their last chance to tie the game, the Ladies stranded a runner on first.
The game saw both teams combine for 23 runs, but the next game ended up being a pitchers' duel. Finn led off the game with a walk, moving to second on Campagna’s groundout. With two outs, back-to-back hits by Albrecht and Delsante gave Kenyon a 2-0 advantage.
The Cardinals tied the game in the bottom of the second. A one-out double followed by an RBI triple brought the Kenyon lead to one. After the triple, Otterbein knotted the game at two on an RBI groundout.
The Ladies couldn’t start the offense up again in their next two at bats, stranding two baserunners. The Cardinals scored their go-ahead run on a pair of doubles to take a 3-2 lead. Otterbein tacked on an insurance run a few batters later on a double steal.
Although the Ladies put a couple on in the fifth, the Cardinals escaped the inning. Friday started the seventh inning with a single but Otterbein sat the next three Kenyon batters in order to take the game and complete the sweep.
