Box Score

FRANKLIN, Ind. – In one of the wildest and higher-scoring college baseball games you will see in recent memory, it was Otterbein that prevailed with a whopping 19-18 victory in extra innings against No. 14-ranked and host Franklin College Wednesday during non-conference action.

The Cardinals, improving to 27-10 on the year, used a monstrous 400-plus foot home run in the tenth inning from senior Pat Birrer to emerge with a notable victory in a battle of national-caliber teams. Franklin, now holding a 33-3 record this spring, snaps a 13-game winning streak despite overcoming an 11-run deficit in the middle innings.

The Grizzlies held an early 2-1 lead before the Otterbein offense erupted to grab an 8-2 advantage entering the fifth, where both sides then posted identical crooked numbers. The Cards scored six runs in the frame, highlighted by a three-run homer from Connor Brett, to open a lopsided 14-3 cushion before Franklin countered with six runs of its own in the bottom half.

Otterbein saw that lead evaporate as the later innings progressed, with the Grizzlies scoring twice in the sixth and four times in the eighth to somehow jump ahead 15-14. The Cards promptly responded with a four-run top of the ninth culminated by a two-run triple from Bryan Stopar.

Not to be outdone, Franklin overcame the 18-15 deficit in its final at-bat on a three-run homer to almost straightaway center field from five-hole hitter Frank Podkul.

The Cards enjoyed the last laugh on Birrer's towering shot over the right-field fence in extras, marking his only hit of the day. That moment was followed by closer Collin Hoffmann shutting the door in a 1-2-3 bottom of the tenth. He took the win in relief despite giving up Podluk's ninth-inning long ball, improving to a 7-0 on the mound this year.

Stopar went 4 for 5 with a career-high seven RBI, while Brett finished with five RBI alongside a pair of home runs. Senior Mitch Stotler went 3 for 3 as well.

Otterbein will travel home and regroup for Saturday's anticipated OAC doubleheader against No. 25-ranked Marietta, with the conference regular-season title on the line. First pitch from Fishbaugh Field is scheduled for 1 p.m.