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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Cardinal baseball team kicked off Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play Saturday afternoon at Fishbaugh Field, suffering a doubleheader sweep at the hands of visiting Marietta College.
Otterbein, now 9-6 on the season, fell by scores of 10-6 and 4-2 as the 11th-ranked Pioneers improved their overall mark to 11-4 this spring.
Otterbein opened the first game strong, getting two early runs after a fielder's choice RBI from David Lemley and a bunt single courtesy of Nich Pitzer. The Cardinals later extended the lead to 4-0 by the end of the first inning thanks for a two-RBI double from centerfielder Tyler Kent.
Otterbein starting pitcher Adam Collier was looking sharp early on, but unfortunately suffered a slight injury to his right knee on the mound in the fourth frame and was forced to exit the game.
The Pioneers took advantage of the Cardinal bullpen from that point, scoring four times in that fourth inning before using an Otterbein fielding error en route to three more runs in the following inning.
Marietta widened the gap to 10-4 in the sixth frame, taking advantage of another Cardinal error, this time with two outs, that scored the final two runs of a three-run inning.
Otterbein attempted to make up ground in the bottom half of the inning, scoring once in the sixth and seeing Zach San Roman draw a bases-loaded walk in the seventh to get the team within 10-6. A pop-up during the next at-bat would leave all runners stranded and the Pioneers would ultimately earn the win.
Kent, Pitzer, catcher Mark Walton and second baseman Taylor Hutchison all tallied two hits in the opener while Marietta's Mitch Byers improved to 4-0 on the bump.
Marietta took the early advantage in game two, scoring a pair in the first and another two in the fourth for a 4-0 lead. Otterbein answered in the bottom of the inning, using Sean Kettering's fourth home run of the season to get one run on the board.
The Cardinals posted another run in the fifth off an RBI-single from third baseman Christian Chiero, but Marietta hurler Christian Herstine (3-0) would prove too strong on the mound in picking up a complete-game victory. Otterbein advanced a runner to second and brought the tying run to bat in the ninth, but a hard-hit liner to left field promptly ended the game.
Chiero went 2 for 3 at the dish while junior Taylor Ellis (2-2) allowed just two earned runs over 6.2 innings on the rubber despite picking up the loss.
Otterbein is set to play three games next week, traveling to Ohio University-Lancaster Wednesday afternoon before resuming OAC play with a doubleheader Saturday at Capital University.
