WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Kenyon College softball team unleashed its powerful offense Wednesday, punishing the host Otterbein University Cardinals in a non-conference doubleheader. The Ladies warmed up with a 6-2 win in game one and then held on for a 10-9 win in game two, which was abbreviated to five innings due to darkness.

The victories were the Ladies' program-record 10th and 11th in a row and pushed the team's overall record to 15-3. On the other side of the ledger, Otterbein fell to 3-10.

In Wednesday's opening game, a five-run second inning, highlighted by a trio of home runs, gave Kenyon all the run support it needed. Liz Paterra began the scoring with a one-out home run. Two batters later, freshman Amanda Coyle laced a two-out triple to right field to get into scoring position. After a fielder's choice from Hayley Howard, Coyle scored and cleared the way for Madi Maldonado's two-run bomb that extended the Ladies' lead to 4-0. Senior Maddy Stark then finalized the big inning with another long ball, her first of the season.

In the fourth inning, the Ladies added one more run. Maldonando started things out with a single and Chelsea Delaney doubled her home.

The Cardinals were able to chip away at the Kenyon lead, but never seriously threatened it. For the most part, Stark, Kenyon's starting pitcher, kept the Otterbein bats quiet. She tossed all seven innings of game one and improved her personal record to 7-2 by giving up just two runs on nine hits and two walks. She also added four strikeouts to her Kenyon career record, which now stands at 380 Ks.

In game two, Stark did the work with her bat and ignited a Ladies' offense that exploded for eight hits and ten runs in just five innings of play. Once again, the Ladies got things going with a five-run second inning. There was no monster hit during the run, but RBI were notched by Howard, Maldonado, Stark, and Delaney.

After Otterbein posted a doughnut in the bottom of the inning, the Ladies offense went right back to work. Nicole Horita doubled and then Paterra doubled her home. Coyle singled and Howard walked. That set the stage for Stark, who ripped a grand slam for her second home run of the day. Prior to the doubleheader, Stark had three career home runs. She finished the day with a two-game stat line that included three hits, two runs scored, and seven RBI.

Delaney was 5-for-8 with a couple of doubles and two RBI, while Maldonando was 3-for-6 with four runs scored and three RBI for the Ladies. Overall, Kenyon batters amassed 18 hits and batted .385 against the Otterbein pitching staff.

The abundance of runs was a good thing for Kenyon because the Cardinals put together a massive rally. They scored two in the bottom of the third and one more in the fourth. When it looked like the Ladies would lock up a five-inning run rule victory, the Cardinals roughed up Kenyon starter Sylvie Thomas for five more runs. When Danielle Elizarraraz replaced Thomas in the circle, the Cardinals were able to plate one more run before Kenyon could close out the inning just in the nick of time.

With the Ladies clinging to a 10-9 lead heading into the top of the sixth inning, the umpires decided there was not enough daylight to continue.