WESTERVILLE, OHIO – The Otterbein University baseball team moved to 11-10 on the season Saturday with a split against rival Capital University, losing game one 3-2 before taking game two by a count of 6-2.
Otterbein now sits 3-3 in Ohio Athletic Conference play, while the Crusaders move to 4-2 against league opponents.
Capital tallied a run in the top of the second inning, but the Cards evened the game in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single off the bat of Bobby Hildebrand.
Otterbein trailed 2-1 entering the bottom of the fifth, but drew even again after an RBI single down the left-field line from freshman Greg Moomaw.
Otterbein’s John LaCorte and Capital’s Justin Hoying each remained steady on the mound, and the game would head into extra innings locked at 2-2. The Crusaders broke the tie with a two-out RBI single to left field, and the Cards came up empty in its last at-bat en route to the defeat.
LaCorte performed admirably on the mound, striking out eight batters while allowing three runs (one earned) on just three hits.
Hoying notched the victory for Capital while Sam Sifferlin came on to notch his third save of the season.
Capital again took an early 1-0 lead in game two, but Otterbein used two-out hits from Josh Coleman and Robb Hendershot to post three runs in the bottom of the third inning.
The Purple and White cut the deficit to 4-2 in the fifth, but sophomore Wes Meadows extended the Cardinal lead back to three in the bottom of the inning with a home run to left field.
The run support would be all that was needed for Cardinal right-hander Matt Frey, who surrendered two unearned runs in six innings of work to earn the victory.
Sophomore lefty Dominic Porretta came in to finish the game in the seventh.
Senior Josh Coleman went 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI in game two, and finished the day as a whole at 3-for-4.
Freshman Greg Moomaw went 4-for-8 over both games, scoring two runs and driving in one run.
The team returns to action Tuesday, April 13 when it travels to take on conference foe Wilmington in doubleheader action. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
