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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein baseball team improved to 24-9 on the season Wednesday afternoon with a non-conference home win, getting a 4 for 4 day from senior Bryan Stopar and playing to an 8-3 decision against Thomas More College at Fishbaugh Field.

The Cardinals scored twice in their first at-bat on RBI-singles from Stopar and Pat Birrer, and then opened a 4-1 advantage in the third when Stopar rocketed a two-run homer down the left-field line.

Thomas More (14-16) stayed close while whole-staffing it on the pitching end, trailing just 4-3 midway through the fifth before Otterbein slowly created separation. The Cards scored once in the bottom of the fifth, again in the sixth and then twice in the seventh when catcher Justin Feltner smacked an RBI-double before coming around to score on a wild pitch.

Junior Johnny Putnam improved to 3-1 on the mound, tossing five innings in the start before giving way to a handful of relief pitchers getting work. Stopar reached base all five times, coming up a triple shy of the cycle and also walking once. He drove in four runs while Birrer had two RBI himself.

Otterbein, winning 13 of its last 15 games and sitting atop the Ohio Athletic Conference standings, will get back into league play Saturday by hosting a doubleheader with third-place Baldwin Wallace.