Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein University baseball team posted a doubleheader split against rival Marietta College Wednesday afternoon at Fishbaugh Field, winning 6-2 before absorbing a tough 7-6 loss in 11 innings to conclude the afternoon.

The Cardinals, playing for just the second time in the last 15 days as a result of poor weather, move to 17-6 on the season and 3-3 within Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play with the split. Otterbein will now have a quick turnaround, heading across town to Capital University tomorrow afternoon for a make-up doubleheader that has been postponed a few times.

Marietta (16-11, 6-2 OAC) plated two early runs during its first at-bat, but Otterbein cut the deficit in half on an RBI-single from senior Mark Walton in the third inning. The Cards then tied the game with one swing, getting a towering home run down the left-field line from cleanup hitter Jake Simmerman to make the score 2-2.

Walton got in on the long-ball action in the fifth, launching an opposite-field home run that put the Cards ahead for good. Otterbein would string together a nice rally in the sixth frame to create some breathing room and not look back.

Junior Robert Kemer improved to a perfect 4-0 on the mound, settling down after the first inning en route to a solid seven-inning performance. Left-hander KC Brown got a nice double-play ball to maneuver out of a jam in the eighth, and closer Caleb Norton came on in the ninth to finish the deal.

Walton and leadoff hitter Taylor Hutchison both hit safely twice in the game.

Otterbein manufactured an early run in game two off Marietta standout pitcher Christine Herstine, using a sacrifice-fly from senior Tyler Kent to assume an early 1-0 lead. Herstine, started on Sunday against Baldwin Wallace, went just three innings before giving way to the Pioneer bullpen.

Cardinal right-hander Craig Prince did not allow a hit until the fifth inning, and ultimately surrendered three runs in the sixth before exiting after 95 pitches. He would end up taking a no-decision.

Otterbein quickly battled back from the 3-1 deficit in the bottom of the sixth, getting RBI hits from Walton, Kent and designated designated hitter Christian Chiero to jump back on top, 4-3. Marietta countered right back in the eighth frame, drawing a key bases-loaded walk and then, registering a sac-fly RBI and then running out an infield-single to seize a 6-4 advantage.

The Cards did not go anywhere, tying the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the eighth by way of a fielder's-choice RBI from Chiero and then an RBI-groundout from junior Peyton Ross.

The Pioneers looked as if they might post another go-ahead run in the top of the ninth, getting a hard-hit grounder to bounce through the left side with runners on first and second base. Marietta's Mike Hale rounded third and attempted to score, but Otterbein shortstop Ben Beachy corralled the loose ball and roped a dart to the plate, where catcher Stephan Hernon applied the tag and ended the inning.

Otterbein had a pair of prime opportunities for a walk-off win, first after a pair of two-out fielding errors by Marietta in the ninth eventually helped load the bases. A strikeout with the bags full unfortunately ended the inning. The Cards then advanced runners to second and third, with just one out, in the tenth but would come up empty again.

Marietta finally broke through in the top of the 11^th, benefiting from a Cardinal throwing error on a stolen-base attempt that eventually allowed an unearned run to cross via an RBI-groundout. Otterbein got the tying run on board in its final at-bat, but would get no further and had to settle for a split.

Simmerman hit 2 for 3 in the second affair and was also walked three times, two being intentional. Hutchison tallied another two hits in the rematch to finish 4 for 10 on the day with three runs scored.

Norton (1-1) was forced to take the loss on the hill despite a solid day, allowing just three hits and the one unearned run over the final 3.2 innings of game two.