Box Score

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Otterbein baseball team suffered an unfortunate loss Friday afternoon at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic, finishing on the low end of a 7-6 loss to Mitchell College (Conn.).

The Cardinals, enduring their first loss of the season, now sit 5-1 on the trip and will look to finish strong with three remaining games over the weekend.

Mitchell, going 32-7 last season and making the NCAA Tournament, came out sharp in its first game of the season and took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI-single and then some heads up base-running on the same sequence.

The Mariners extended the cushion to 4-0 by the middle of the fifth frame, but the Cardinals managed to slice the deficit in half with their ensuing at-bat after a sac-fly from Mitch Stotler and then a rocket RBI-double off the bat of Ben Beachy.

Otterbein had a chance for more runs after a pitching change for the opposition, but a runner was caught stealing at third base and then a long fly ball was hauled in by the Mitchell right fielder.

Mitchell added three insurance runs in the later innings that proved to be crucial, scoring once in the seventh and then two unearned runs in the top of the ninth after a Cardinal throwing error opened the frame.

Otterbein did not go quietly in its final at-bat, which began with a lead-off double from Brock Frentzel and then saw Peyton Ross and pinch-hitter Pat Birrer both get hit by pitches, loading the bases. Beachy followed with an RBI-groundout before senior Tyler Kent brought fans to their feet with a two-out, three-run home run out of a full count to put the gap at just 7-6.

Senior clean-up hitter Jake Simmerman made his way to the plate next, and nearly tied the game with a rope down the left-field line that ended up drifting just foul. Mitchell reliever Domenick Giaramida eventually found a way to survive, getting Simmerman to pop up behind the plate after a long at-bat as the Mariners escaped victorious.

Giaramida, who tossed the final 4.2 innings out of the bullpen, earned the win while Otterbein lefty Stevie Yuran had to take the loss. He surrendered three runs (two earned) over his four innings on the bump before giving way to Jeff Peters and KC Brown.

Kent and third baseman Christian Chiero both hit safely three times on the day, with Chiero ripping three singles and Kent falling a triple shy of the cycle.

Otterbein, playing without a few starters, committed four fielding errors (compared to none for Mitchell) and was also picked off twice in addition to the caught stealing in the fifth. Only three of the seven Mariner runs were earned.

The Cards will next play games against SUNY Old Westbury, Olivet College and Rockford University to end the trip.