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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – It needed a workmanlike effort (from start to finish) for the Otterbein baseball team Tuesday afternoon in its home opener, but the Cardinals saw it through and earned a 5-3 victory against a pesky Bluffton team at Fishbaugh Field.

The Cardinals, receiving votes in the latest D3baseball.com national poll, improve to 13-3 on the season behind a whole-staff effort on the mound and timely hitting. Bluffton falls back to 5-6 this spring.

NOTABLE MOMENTS:

• Bluffton took an early 1-0 lead before Otterbein countered with a pair in the bottom of the second, getting a sac fly from Adam Folk and then a timely two-out single from Ryan Grant that scored Zach Franz.
   
• Freshman Luke Walter tallied two quick outs in both the third and fourth innings before having to work out of some trouble, The hard-throwing newcomer found a way to leave multiple runners stranded both times and allowed just one run on a wild pitch.
   
• The Beavers crept ahead 3-2 in the sixth but Otterbein responded yet again in the bottom of the frame. Brayden Quincel launched a two-out, game-tying solo homer to left field that knotted the score back up. It marked his sixth long ball of the season.
   
• Robby Kain entered in relief to pitch the seven and also needed to escape a tight situation, but the sophomore lefty did just that by inducing a critical double-play groundout that kept the score 3-3.
   
• Otterbein vaulted ahead in the bottom of that seventh frame on a broken sequence, which began with Folk drawing a leadoff walk and getting sacrificed over thanks to a perfect bunt from pinch hitter Gavin Thompson. Folk then skipped to third on a wild pitch and came around after a throwing error down the line.
   
• Braydon McCloskey also pitched out of some mini trouble in the eighth by stranding runners at the corners. He then retook the mound with a 5-3 lead in the ninth after a Cardinal insurance run (infield single by Franz), and manufactured his own double-play groundout to end the day.

 
NOTABLE STATS:

• Quincel hit 3 for 4 at the dish and now leads the Ohio Athletic Conference in both round-trippers and total RBI (25) this spring.
   
• Kain improved to 2-0 on the bump while McCloskey picked up his third save.
   
• Bluffton stranded 12 runners on base but did receive a three-hit effort by first baseman Justin Maurer.
   
• Otterbein has now won five of the past six meetings in the series between the schools.

 
QUICK TURNAROUND:

• Otterbein is scheduled to get right back on the diamond Wednesday afternoon with a quick trip up to Ohio Wesleyan at 4 p.m. The two schools will be hoping to play once this week and against next week (in Westerville) to make up for the recently cancelled doubleheader.