ALLIANCE, Ohio – Despite an incredibly disappointing loss in the opener, the Otterbein baseball club showed some nice grit with a bounce-back effort in the doubleheader rematch Saturday at Mount Union.

The Cardinals, playing for the first time in nearly two weeks after Muskingum recently had to cancel, carried a three-run lead into the ninth inning of the opener before somehow dropping an 8-7 game. Nevertheless, Otterbein salvaged the split with a 10-5 triumph to finish the day.

GAME 1:
The first affair featured a strong pitching matchup between Otterbein fifth-year ace Collin Hoffmann and Mount Union's Thomas Gallant, the reigning National Pitcher of the Week who had not allowed a run this season…

That all changed, as Otterbein took a 1-0 lead in the third on an RBI-groundout from Adam Stotler. Senior Luke Barber followed in the fifth, launching a towering two-run homer that put the Cards ahead 3-1.

The Cards stayed on top into the ninth inning, getting two insurance runs off the bat of freshman slugger Jamie Perebzak. He rocketed a two-run shot in his first college at-bat, putting the team up 7-4.

Mount Union had two outs, and nobody on base, before striking a wild rally to steal the game. A walk-off, three-run double ended up being the final blow.

Hoffmann allowed three earned runs over six innings as both he and Gallant ultimately took no-decisions.

GAME 2:
The Raiders parlayed that momentum into an early 2-0 lead in the rematch, but a gritty Cardinal squad kept swinging and found themselves up 4-2 entering the middle innings. Included in the push were a pair of RBI-singles from shortstop Zak Repar.

A huge fifth inning broke the game open for Otterbein. Barber and Brayden Carter had RBI-doubles, sandwiched around a scoring poke from Perebzak and sac-fly off the bat of Zach Franz.

Perebzak continued turning heads in his stellar debut, launching a solo shot to left field in the ninth for another insurance run. Carter and Repar both enjoyed four-hit performances while Perebzak was 3 for 4 and crossed the plate three time.

Jackson Wilson earned the pitching win, going 5.2 on the bump before giving way to Nicky Zorne and Andy Caddas. The trio combined for eight strikeouts.

UP NEXT:
Both teams will face off again in another doubleheader Sunday afternoon, scheduled to be played at Fishbaugh Field with games at 1 and 4 p.m. Should the weather hold off, it would be Otterbein's first home game in nearly 23 months.