By Tim Glon
The Ohio Northern softball team swept Otterbein in an Ohio Athletic Conference double header Saturday afternoon at Rike Field.
The Polar Bears improve to 3-9 overall and are 2-4 in OAC action, while the Cardinals fall to 10-8, 0-4.
Northern won the opener 7-5 and took the nightcap 6-5 in nine innings.
Freshman Anne Dreher went 4-for-8 with a double and two home runs in the two games to lead the ONU offense.
Dreher's 2-run home run keyed a 5-run fourth inning in Game 1, giving the Polar Bears a 5-1 lead.
OU pulled within 5-4 , but an RBI single by junior Carly McKenzie and an unearned run by junior Colleen Baliga gave ONU a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh.
Senior Abbey Bensing (2-3) earned the win for Ohio Northern.
In Game 2, freshman Amanda Lahti singled home McKenzie in the top of the ninth inning to break a 5-5 tie and give ONU the sweep.
Northern pushed the game into extra innings with an RBI single by McKenzie to score senior Michelle Sweet.
The Polar Bears took a 4-3 lead in the top of the second on an RBI single by Baliga and a 3-run double by junior Christin Miller.
The Cardinals had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, but Sweet threw out the would-be winning run at the plate on a fly ball to right field to complete a double play.
Senior Katy Newman (1-5) earned the win for Northern.
The Polar Bears will return home for a double header against Heidelberg on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at the ONU Softball Field.
