Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein baseball team worked its way to a crucial doubleheader sweep within Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play Wednesday afternoon at Fishbaugh Field, sneaking out a 5-4 win in game one before a strong 6-0 triumph over Ohio Northern in the rematch.

The Cardinals and Polar Bears entered the day with identical records and tied for second place amongst the league standings, but a pair of wins now pushes the Cardinals to 21-8 overall and 9-3 against OAC opponents. Otterbein has won eight-straight outings and 10 of its last 11.


Game 1:

Otterbein jumped all over Ohio Northern in the second inning, flying out to a 4-0 lead after taking advantage of a throwing error during Pat Birrer's sac-bunt attempt. Justin Feltner put the Cards on the board first with an RBI-single, nine-hole hitter Mitch Stotler followed with a 2-RBI single and then leadoff man Ben Beachy capped the spurt with an RBI single of his own.

The Polar Bears (19-10, 7-5 OAC) countered right back with three runs in their next plate appearance, and then tied the contest in the fourth inning on an RBI-single from their nine-hole hitter Brandon Kasberg.

That score remained the same until the eighth inning, where Jake Walters and Collin Hoffmann came on to relieve starter Johnny Putnam in the top half and keep it a 4-4 game. Otterbein then manufactured the go-ahead run in productive fashion on a hit-by-pitch, a sac-bunt from Birrer and then Feltner singling up the middle to bring Connor Brett around.

Hoffmann shut down ONU in the ninth and improved to 4-0 on the mound, all wins coming in relief. Feltner was a perfect 4 for 4 in the opener while Beachy and clean-up hitter Bryan Stopar had two-hit efforts.

 
Game 2:

Otterbein once again jumped ahead from the get-go but this time never relinquished the lead, plating three runs in the first inning on a lead-off home run from Beachy and then a two-run line drive over the left-field fence from Brett. The duo has combined for 12 of the team's 20 round-trippers so far this season.

The lead would prove more than enough for freshman pitcher Ethan Doty, who admirably worked out of some trouble during the nine innings en route to a complete-game shutout. He left the bases loaded in the first and then stranded two in the fourth, two in the fifth, two in the eighth and another two in the ninth.

Doty, who struck out eight Polar Bears, improves to 4-1 on the hill and helps lower the team E.R.A. to a solid 3.11 this spring.

Otterbein actually had just four hits in the contest, the two long balls in the first and then nice gap hits from Birrer and Tim Snyder in the eighth. The Cards still moved the ball accordingly to widen the early lead throughout on sacrifice-fly RBI from Snyder and Luke Barber.

Ohio Wesleyan is scheduled to come to Fishbaugh Field for a solo game Thursday at 4 p.m. before the Cards head to University Heights on Saturday to play a twinbill against John Carroll.