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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Cardinal baseball team stepped away from Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play recently and picked up three-straight victories, sweeping a doubleheader with Ohio Christian University on Wednesday before am 8-4 win over Ohio Wesleyan Thursday afternoon.

Otterbein, now 21-12 on the season, will return to conference action Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader at league-leading Heidelberg University. The Cardinals will need to sweep the Student Princes (28-6) if they wish to remain alive for a spot in the upcoming OAC Tournament.

Otterbein jumped all over Ohio Christian (2-29) Wednesday, stringing together a nine-run inning late in game one to pull away for a 15-1 victory.

Nich Pitzer, Jake Simmerman, J.C. Gibson and Chad Webster all tallied three hits in the game as five different Cardinals drove in two or more runs. Sophomore Ben Hamilton allowed just the one run in five innings on the mound in moving to a perfect 6-0 this season.

The second outing would be more of the same, as Otterbein scored 15 runs over the first-two innings and never looked back en route to a dominant 22-3 triumph.

Six different Otterbein players turned in a multi-hit game, including a 2 for 4 effort from freshman catcher Zach San Roman. The Miami, Fla. native ripped a grand slam to left field in the second inning for his first home run as a Cardinal.

Freshman Justin Lewis was credited with the first win of his career on the bump, scattering just two hits and allowing one run over the initial three innings.

Otterbein turned back the Battling Bishops on Wednesday, taking a 4-0 lead after two innings and never trailing. OWU scored twice in the fifth inning after a pair of Cardinal throwing errors, but the Tan and Cardinal quickly responded with three more runs in the next at-bat to bump the margin to 7-2.

Ohio Wesleyan later closed to within 7-4, but Otterbein added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth after freshman Brock Frentzel stole two bases before advancing home on a throwing error from the catcher.

Sophomore Jordon Mally improved himself to 4-0 on the hill this year for the Cardinals, allowing just two runs (none earned) over five innings of work.  Gibson went 2 for 3 with two RBI while leadoff hitter Taylor Hutchison hit 2 for 5 and had three fielding assists against his former team.