FLORENCE, Ky. – Exactly 24 hours after wrapping up a conference doubleheader, the Otterbein baseball team got back on the diamond with another road affair Wednesday night in another state.

The Cardinals, who began the delayed trip after their team bus was an hour late, eventually arrived to UC Health Stadium and played to a comfortable 9-0 victory over host Mount St. Joseph.

Otterbein (11-9) consistently built a lead by scoring in the first four innings, getting early RBI singles from Sam Edgell and Adam Stotler before the longball went into effect. Senior Connor Brett launched his second home run in as many days, and then classmate Ben Beachy followed with a two-run blast in the next inning to make it a 5-0 contest.

The cushion would be more than necessary for freshman Travis Engard on the hill, as the right-hander shoves seven scoreless inning while allowing just four hits. He fanned five batters and walked only one.

Otterbein added insurance runs late, with two coming in the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Chase Collins and then a double steal involving best buddies Tim Snyder and Connor Brett.
Sam Edgell and Vince Ruggieri added RBI in the eighth to cap the scoring, while Cody Goletz came on to toss the final two innings of relief and help secure the team's first shutout of the season.

Five Cardinals had multi-hit games as the lineup put the ball in play nicely, striking out just three times and only drawing two walks. Otterbein will be right back on the road this coming weekend, heading to No. 24-ranked Heidelberg for a conference doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m.