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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The No. 21-ranked Otterbein baseball team bounced back from a loss to grab its 12th win of the season Wednesday afternoon, outlasting Manchester University to emerge 8-7 at Fishbaugh Field.

Otterbein opened the week Tuesday afternoon at Mount St. Joseph, falling by a score of 6-1 in a game played at UC Health Stadium in Florence, Ky. The Lions plated two early runs before Cardinal senior Brock Frentzel launched his third home run of the season, cutting the deficit in half at 2-1.

MSJ responded from that point, scoring another pair on the third inning and then keeping Otterbein off the scoreboard the rest of the day behind starting pitcher Nick Gunnell, who went seven innings before giving way to his bullpen.

Frentzel and designated hitter Bryan Stopar each tallied two hits for the offense, which grounded into three double plays throughout the contest. Mount St. Joseph had 10 hits as a team compared to six for Otterbein.

The Cardinals had a quick turnaround in hosting Manchester on a cold Wednesday afternoon, overcoming a leadoff home run by the Spartans to tie the game, at 2-2, by the end of the fourth inning. The Cards hit the scoreboard thanks to an RBI-single from second baseman Mitch Stotler and then a Manchester fielding error.

Otetrbein's big inning came in the bottom of the fifth, posting five runs that all came as part of a two-out rally. Stephan Hernon and Christian Chiero both had infield singles to shortstop that prolonged the frame, which forced a visitor pitching change and then saw 2-RBI hits from Connor Brett and Brock Frentzel.

The Tan and Cardinal appeared to be cruising behind the right arm of sophomore Jaryd Murphy, but Manchester strung together a five-run rally of its own in the seventh inning after leadoff hitter Chad Schultz launched his second opposite-field homer of the day and then Tyler LaFollette tied the game with a three-run shot to left.

Otterbein put two runners on in the eight before the inning stalled, but eventually delivered the winning sequence in the final at-bat after a one-out double from Stopar, who then advanced to third on a wild pitch during an intentional walk. Chiero came up with the walk-off hit, ripping a single to left field that promptly brought Stopar across the plate.

Brett and Chiero both churned out three hits on the afternoon while Hernon had two, giving him his sixth multi-hit game of the year.

Senior closer Caleb Norton grabbed his second win in four days on the mound, getting four quick outs after entering in the eighth and moving to 2-0 this year. It was the 56th appearance of his career and he continues to close in on the Otterbein all-time record of 60, held by Doug Bringman (1999-02).

Otterbein will be back in action this weekend, traveling to begin Ohio Athletic Conference play at Ohio Northern Saturday afternoon. First pitch from Ada is scheduled for 1 p.m.