WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Following a doubleheader split at Hanover on Sunday, Denison softball returned to action on Monday when they traveled to Westerville, Ohio and split a pair of games with the Cardinals of Otterbein at Rike Field. The Big Red took the first game 2-1 in eight innings while Otterbein evened the series with a 4-3 win in game two.

In the opening game of the series, the first six innings of action appeared to hold strong as a pitcher's duel as Denison's Taylor Faulkenberg and Otterbein's Jess Gunter combined for 10 strikeouts, including six punch outs from Faulkenberg and only three hits allowed.

In the top of the seventh, the Big Red broke through first after singles from Abby Stallcup, Claire Powell, and Maggie Ballentine loaded the bases with one out in the inning. In the next at-bat, senior Lindsey Clemson recorded the first RBI of the game with a run-scoring single to left that drove home Stallcup from third.

After the Cardinals went to Erin Vonderwell in relief, the Big Red recorded their final two outs on a fielder's choice and a flyout, turning the bats over to Otterbein and their final three outs.

With runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Katrina Wierzbick kept the game alive with an RBI single to left, scoring Emma Spinner and sending the game to extras tied at 1-1.

In the top of the eighth, extra-inning rules opened the inning with sophomore Allie Kovatch on second base. Following a sacrifice groundout from Angel Ehrenschwender, Kovatch landed at third with one out. With Gabi Dufresne at the plate, a wild pitch from Vonderwell scored Kovatch and put the Big Red in front, 2-1.

The Cardinals looked to score in the home half of the inning, but a double-play ball from Gunter and a swinging strikeout from Hannah Lewis ended the game and gave DU their second win of the season.

Faulkenberg earned the first win of her career after going eight strong innings with one run allowed on five hits with a season-best seven strikeouts. Clemson finished the game 3-for-4 with an RBI while Stallcup went 2-for-3 with a run scored and Ballentine also tallied two hits.

In the second game of the doubleheader, the Big Red offense wasted no time with two runs in the top of the first, led off by an RBI double from Ballentine that scored Powell from first. In the next at-bat, a sacrifice flyout from Clemson drove home Ballentine and gave Denison a 2-0 advantage.

Leading 2-1 in the top of the third, Sarah Hamre and Ehrenschwender tallied back-to-back doubles to right-center, scoring Hamre and extending the DU lead to 3-1.

Despite the Big Red lead and a strong three innings of relief from freshman Sophia Parpala, Otterbein entered the bottom of the seventh down one run, 3-2. With a runner on third with two outs, a walk to Lewis put runners at the corners. Reminiscent to game one, the Cardinals capitalized on an RBI single, this time from Sage Jenkins, to tie the game at 3-3. In the next at-bat, a walk to Ange loaded the bases once again before a hit-by-pitch RBI from Savannah McCoppin ended the game and dropped Denison to 2-6 on the season. Otterbein improved to 6-3 in 2020.

Powell, Clemson, Ehrenschwender, and Emilie Fisher each finished the game with two hits. Noelle Chovanec got the start for DU and posted one strikeout in three innings. Otterbein's Jenkins, Isabelle Fisher, and Hannah Dobrinick also recorded two hits in the game.

The Big Red will return to action next week, March 16-21, when they travel to Oahu, Hawaii to compete in their annual spring break trip. Denison opens with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and No. 7 Virginia Wesleyan on March 16 at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. EST, respectively.