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ALLIANCE, Ohio – A pair of complete-game pitching efforts and timely two-out hitting by Mount Union doomed the Cardinal baseball team Sunday afternoon in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) opener for both sides, with the host Purple Raiders winning 5-1 and 3-0 at their 23rd Street Field.

The showdown was a rematch of last year's OAC Tournament championship game on the same diamond, where Otterbein cruised past Mount by a score of 14-8. This time around was a bit different as the Cardinal offense could never get going, dropping the squad to 10-6 overall this spring and snapping a six-game winning streak.

Game one featured a strong pitching matchup between Mount Union standout Phil Mary and Otterbein ace Craig Prince, as both hurlers were voted first team All-OAC last season. Two-out execution became a theme early on as the Raiders scored an early run in the first.

That slim margin remained the same until Otterbein drew even in the top of the sixth, getting a two-out RBI single to right field from freshman Luke Barber. It was his first game back since suffering an injury on the spring break trip.

Mount Union (10-4) jumped ahead for good in the bottom of the sixth by way of a two-out, two-RBI double from Scott Cooney down the left-field line. That lead was enough for Mary, who allowed just five hits and struck out nine batters for his third win of the year.

The rematch was scoreless entering the bottom of the fourth inning, where Mount grabbed a 1-0 lead on a two-out single to left field from Bryant Kennedy. The Raiders then completed the scoring in the fifth with a pair of unearned runs, coming again with two outs, after the frame was prolonged due to a Cardinal error.

Otterbein was unable to cross the plate against Mount Union's Noah Skladan, who surrendered just four hits in going the distance and improving to 3-0 on the bump.

Stevie Yuran was forced to absorb the loss despite just one earned run in five innings, with Collin Hoffmann following to post three scoreless innings of his own. Barber went a combined 3 for 7 on the day in his return.

Otterbein will be back in action with four games this coming week, beginning with the home opener against DePauw University on Tuesday at Fishbaugh Field.