WESTFIELD, Ind. – The Otterbein baseball team dropped a disappointing season-opening contest on the road Tuesday afternoon, rallying from behind but unfortunately settling for an 8-7 loss to host Anderson University at Grand Park.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Cardinals dug themselves an early hole, as Anderson opened a 6-0 lead after three innings against juniors Chris Sparks and Conor Crotty on the bump.
   
• Otterbein later trailed 8-1 before chipping away in the middle innings, which included a two-run double from Connor Brett followed by a solo homer from senior classmate Tim Snyder. Anderson's lead was eventually trimmed to 8-7.
   
• Missed opportunities hurt the Cards late, beginning when Otterbein had bases loaded (with just one out) in the eighth before a popup and strikeout ended the sequence. The bags were juiced again in the ninth following an intentional walk to Ben Beachy, but an ensuing groundout helped the Ravens preserve victory.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Freshmen Sam Edgell and Travis Engard performed admirably in their collegiate debuts. Edgell had two RBI serving in the designated hitter slot while Engard helped give Otterbein a chance with four innings of relief. He struck out seven batters.
   
• Otterbein drew 11 total walks in the game but didn't capitalize as much as it wanted. The majority of free bases were issued to Beachy (3), Brett (2) and powerful first baseman Luke Barber (2).
   
• The Cardinals drop their first season opener since the 2014 season, when they lost an initial contest to Elmhurst before winning the next two of a three-game set.
   
• Anderson is now 2-0 on the season with a pair of wins against the Ohio Athletic Conference, recently topping Heidelberg 3-1 last week.

 
UP NEXT:

The team will shave their heads to support thee annual initiative for Vs. Cancer and then leave Friday morning for a nine-game trip in Florida over spring break. The Cards will play another challenging schedule, split between parks in Port Charlotte and Fort Myers. All contests can be followed through live stats/audio links located on the schedule page.