RICHMOND, Ky. – After five days off to rest from its spring trip in Florida, the Otterbein baseball team got back to action with a three-game set at Earle Combs Stadium over the weekend. The Cardinals exploded offensively in each contest, winning a pair of games handily before coming up short in a wild finale.

As a result, the Cardinals now hold a 9-5 overall record this season as Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play is quickly approaching. Notable highlights/details from the weekend here:

FRIDAY vs. TRANSYVANIA (W 19-4):
The Cardinals began the weekend by ordering up a juicy 12-piece wing dinner, plating a dozen runs in their first inning to bust the doors wide open.

Otterbein sent a whopping 15 hitters to the plate, with eight reaching base the initial time through the lineup. Included in the raucous flurry was a 2-RBI double from Jamie Perebzak, an opposite-field home run from Brayden Quincel and a three-run blast from Sam Edgell to punctuate the frame.

If that outburst wasn't enough, the Cards followed with another four runs in a second inning that saw five hits and three doubles (Brayden Carter, Ryan Mitchell and Perebzak). Otterbein then added another trio in the third… featuring singles from Logan Ullom and Ryan Grant, another double from Carter, and culminating sac-fly off the bat of Luke Barber.

The lead would allow starting pitcher Logan Weber a substantial amount of breathing room, as the senior right-hander ultimately worked six innings and improved to 3-0 this season. Luke Perigo bounced back nicely from his rough Jungle Golf putt-putt outing in Florida, keeping the Pioneers scoreless across the final three innings for a save.

Weber and Perigo combined for nine strikeouts on the bump. The Cards scattered 19 hits offensively, with seven players having multiple knocks and Mitchell totaling four RBI.

SATURDAY vs. CHICAGO (W 14-2):
The offense remained potent with multiple runs in four innings, beginning with three in the opening at-bat thanks to another 2 RBI-double from Perebzak and Edgell quickly bringing him around.

Otterbein added another three in the third, pushing the lead to 6-1, via rips from Noah Sprowls and Quincel. In the fifth, Edgell launched a home run and Quincel remained hot with an extra-base dart to left field.

The Cards promptly ended things with a huge seventh inning, crossing another six runs to pull away for good. Matthew Gibson had a 2-RBI single in the process.
Another 16 hits were racked up, led by perfect 3 for 3 outings from Edgell and Quincel. Four other Cardinals had multi-hit games in getting to Chicago's Drew Bryan, who did not allow an earned run over 29 innings last season.

Nicky Zorne allowed just one run (on three hits) over four innings as the starter, while fellow lefty Travis Burson did the exact same over the latter three frames. He earned a save, becoming the sixth Cardinal arm to notch one this spring.

SATURDAY vs. TRANSYLVANIA (L 14-12):
All sorts of action and wind played a role in the outcome of this shootout, tied 6-6 after five innings before Otterbein plated two in the top of the sixth. However, Transy found momentum in the bottom half with six runs to jump ahead for good.

The Cards later trailed 14-8 entering their final at-bat, but didn't go quietly in batting around and stringing together a nice rally. Otterbein eventually got to within 14-11 and forced a pitching change.

A couple batters later, Quincel delivered a two-out RBI single and got on base as the tying run. Unfortunately, with two runners in scoring position, a swinging strikeout would allow the hosts to narrowly hang on.

Five players had multi-hit showings for Otterbein, which posted a combined 50 for the three-game set as a whole. Quincel finished the trip 7 for 12 (with nine RBI) while Edgell has now hit safely in all 14 games this season.

Jackson Peloquin went 4.1 frames as the starter before the bullpen took it from there in the final contest.

UP NEXT:
Otterbein is scheduled to play a single, non-conference game at Bluffton midweek before hosting Capital to begin league play next weekend at Fishbaugh Field.