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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Cardinals picked up a strong regional win on a much nicer (weather) day at Fishbaugh Field Wednesday afternoon, jumping on Adrian College early and working past the Bulldogs for a 10-5 decision.

The Cardinals, completing 27 innings in roughly a 27-hour span, enjoyed the jump in temperature of 35 degrees in front of a nice crowd on campus. Otterbein now stands with a 13-5 record heading into a weekend twinbill at Heidelberg.

Senior Ryan Mitchell opened the first-inning action with two notable plays. Adrian had runners on the corners (with one out) and lofted a ball to center field, where Mitchell made the catch and then threw a one-hop rope to get the lead runner tagging home…

He then jumped on a fast ball in the bottom of the inning, rocketing that pitch over the left-field fence for a solo homer. Otterbein added to that lead in the third when Brayden Carter got a decent piece for a sac fly, and Luke Barber followed with a good RBI-poke up the middle.

A huge shift in momentum occurred in the top of the fourth, as left fielder Zach Franz was credited with a lunging catch at the wall before going to the ground. He regathered himself and began a relay process that doubled up a runner at first base.

Just moments later in the bottom half, Brayden Quincel launched a three-run homer after destroying a pitch into the tennis courts behind left field. That allowed Otterbein to carry a 6-0 lead over the middle frames, also in thanks to pitchers Luke Perigo and Alex Hook combining for five shutout frames on the hill.

Adrian kept things interesting with five runs over the next two inning, shrinking the gap to just 7-5. Otterbein didn't waver and answered the bell across the seventh-inning stretch. Mitchell and Barber began with back-to-back singles, and ensuing RBI from Noah Sprowls and Quincel helped widen the lead back.

Ashton Spurgeon helped bridge the game into the ninth inning, where the hard-throwing Quincel moved onto the mound from shortstop and tossed a 1-2-3 sequence.

Otterbein doubled-up Adrian in hits at 12-6, with one of those coming via Sam Edgell as he moves the hitting streak to 21 total games.

The Cardinals will now have weekend games up in Tiffin at 1 and 4 p.m. Heidelberg, boasting a new turf infield this season, beat Manchester 8-2 on Wednesday afternoon.