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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein baseball team was forced to settle for a doubleheader split with visiting John Carroll Tuesday afternoon at Fishbaugh Field, putting the Cardinals in a tough position heading into the final weekend of Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) competition.

The Cardinals, winning the opener against JCU before dropping the rematch, now stand 18-16 on the year and 8-8 within the league standings. They are currently tied with Marietta for fifth place, one game back of fourth and two games behind the Blue Streaks (23-13, 10-8 OAC) in third.

The top-four teams qualify for the upcoming OAC Tournament. Otterbein will need to win both games at Marietta on Saturday afternoon, and hope for help from John Carroll and Ohio Northern. JCU will go Friday at Baldwin Wallace, which will be playing for the regular-season title.

See full standings HERE.


Game One (9-1 Win):

The Cardinals, approaching the day with a must-win mentality, sent junior closer Collin Hoffmann to the mound as the starter. It was his first start since freshman year down in Florida on spring break.

Hoffmann answered the bell and met expectations, overcoming an early run in the first inning to go unblemished through the seventh frame. He struck out four batters and allowed just a few hits from the first inning, improving to 4-0 with a 1.78 E.R.A.

Otterbein took the lead for good in the second, beginning with an RBI from Tyler Thompson during an unusual infield-fly ruling where the ball safely hit the grass about 10-12 feet out into left-center-field. Tim Snyder hustled home from third base regardless to tie the score, and catcher Adam Stotler then came up with a 2-RBI single over the head of the first basement as the next hitter.

The Cards blew things open in the fifth on a wild rally, which featured six two-out singles and sent 11 total batters to the plate. Thompson ripped a key 2-RBI shot down the left-field line and Sam Edgell later drew a bases-loaded walk to cap the scoring spurt.

Sophomore Andy Caddas tossed clean eighth and ninth innings from the bullpen, surrendering just one hit over seven hitters. Stotler and Matthew Gibson both tallied three hits offensively.

 
Game Two (9-6 Loss):

Senior Johnny Putnam took the mound on just two days rest after throwing Saturday at Baldwin Wallace, but the Blue Streaks opened strong with four hits sandwiched around a fielding error on a ground ball. JCU ultimately plated four in the frame and never trailed the rest of the way.

Otterbein settled in and got three runs back in the third, coming on a 2-RBI double from Luke Barber and an RBI-groundout from Connor Brett. The inning promptly ended on a double-play ground ball with runners at the corners.

John Carroll built on the 4-3 lead from there by scoring once in the fourth, sixth and seventh to open a 7-3 margin. Otterbein never quit, slicing the gap in half when senior Tim Snyder launched a two-out, two-run homer to right field in the eighth.

JCU tallied two more insurance runs in the top of the ninth, which ended up being crucial as the Cardinals mounted a late push in their final at-bat.

Dmitri Collaros opened the frame with a single, and came around to score on another nice piece of hitting by Stotler. Barber eventually strolled to the plate representing the tying run, and worked out of an early hole to force a full count before a hard-hit shot was corralled by the center fielder.

Stotler, Snyder and Connor Brett all had two hits in the contest, which saw a combined 24 from both sides. Patrick Keohane and Aaron Zawadski both had three base knocks for the vistors, who got six innings from starting pitcher John Merrill.


UP NEXT:

Otterbein will have non-conference road games at Thomas More and Oberlin before heading to Marietta over the weekend. Check out the schedule for game times and full coverage links.