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PRESS CONFERENCE

WOOSTER, Ohio – A disappointing day on the diamond hit the Otterbein baseball team Friday to begin the NCAA Mideast Regional, as the Cardinals came up short in a 4-2 loss against Case Western Reserve at Art Murray Field.

Otterbein, seeded No. 3 in the four-team, double-elimination bracket, will now enter the consolation section and square off against host/top seed Wooster Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. The Fighting Scots fell, 2-1, against Rochester in Thursday's opening contest.

The Cardinals, now 26-17-1 on the season, had an eight-game winning streak snapped even though the afternoon opened on a high note. Senior shortstop Ben Beachy saw a 2-1 fastball down the pipe in the game's first at-bat, and launched it over the left-center field fence for an immediate 1-0 lead.

Otterbein's offense would unfortunately struggle to produce from that point, tallying just two hits the remainder of the way despite some hard-hit balls. Luke Barber mashed a pitch with two runners on base in the third inning that was corralled at the warning track, as the score remained 1-0 midway through the fifth.

Collin Hoffmann, who essentially cruised through 14 outs to start the day, found trouble after quickly retiring two batters in the bottom of the fifth. Four-straight hitters reached base with singles, sandwiched around a key balk that put Case on the scoreboard. The Spartans then took a 2-1 lead moments later on a timely two-out hit.

Otterbein tied things back up in the sixth, taking advantage of a throwing error on a fielder's choice sequence that skipped into right field. That misfire allowed Barber to pedal around third and cross the plate for a 2-2 deadlock.

The Cards didn't appear to be done with runners on the corners and just one out, but a miscommunication sequence on a potential double steal saw Connor Brett picked off trying to steal home. A strikeout two pitches later halted any momentum.

Case took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth with another piece of two-out hitting, getting an RBI-triple down the right-field line that scored a runner from first. Hoffmann had tallied two quick outs to begin that inning as well before the consecutive knocks.

Beachy drew a lead-off walk to begin the eighth and Barber launched another rocket, this time to the right-field warning track before it found a Spartan glove once again.

Case Western Reserve found an insurance run on a solo homer in the bottom half of the frame and emerged behind freshman lefty Nick Denove, who tossed a complete-game effort and improved to 7-2 this spring. The Spartans received production from all parts of their lineup, including the 7-8-8 hitters going a combined 5 for 12.

Hoffmann was still relatively sharp albeit taking his first loss of the year, striking out six batters and walking just one over six full innings. Senior Jaryd Murphy recorded six outs in relief.