UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio – It wasn't easy and took some extensive work, but most road wins on the baseball diamond within the Ohio Athletic Conference typically require such.

But Otterbein manufactured the necessary effort and outcomes over a packed stretch of 18 innings Monday afternoon at Schweickert Field, sweeping host John Carroll (6-3 and 11-7) to kickstart league play on a high note.

The Cardinals, having won 10 of their last 11, now stand 15-5 overall at the exact midpoint of their regular-season schedule. They played all 20 of those games away from campus.

GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS:

• The opener was deadlocked 1-1 after four innings, with Gavin Wolf providing Otterbein an early 1-0 lead in the second with his solo home run down the left-field line.
   
• John Carroll, last year's OAC Tournament champion, drew even in the fourth before Kyler Archual limited any further damage with a double-play groundout.
   
• Brayden Quincel, named OAC Hitter of the Week once again shortly after first pitch, reminded fans why in the fifth inning. He catapulted a three-run blast down the left-field line, beyond the fence, over Washington Boulevard, through surrounding neighborhoods, past the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and potentially into Lake Erie for his eighth round-tripper this season.
   
• Archual took the ball and ran with that momentum, tossing scoreless frames in the fifth and sixth before a run in the seventh. He would eventually improve to 4-0 this spring with yet another quality start, walking none and striking out five over his showing.
   
• Sam Sethna took the ball in the bottom of the eighth and retired five-straight Blue Streaks, but encountered a tricky finish as the hosts strung together a two-out rally in the final at-bat. A walk, hit by pitch and consecutive singles got the tying run on base, but the sophomore right-hander responded with a strikeout to close the affair.
   
• Both teams had nine hits in the game but Otterbein did leave twice as many runners on base. The top-seven starters in the Cardinal lineup all had at least one base knock, as did pinch hitter Jake Brown late.

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS:

• Otterbein took a 3-0 advantage to launch scoring in the rematch, although it could have been even more in a third inning that saw the bases get loaded with no outs. But Jamie Perebzak still put the ball in play for a fielder's choice RBI, and heads-up running by Adam Folk crossed a second run after he scored from second during the sequence.
   
• The Cardinals later held a 4-0 lead midway through the fifth inning before starting pitcher Bryson Bell, sharp to that point, found some adversity trying to close out the bottom half of the frame. JCU strung together a two-out rally that ultimately saw a trio of runs come around following a throwing error with the bases loaded. Only two of the four ended up being charged.
   
• Otterbein quickly regained the lead and Luke Walter would toss a pair of clean innings, before walking the leadoff batter in the eighth and turning things over to workhorse Braydon McCloskey from the pen. The veteran soon found himself in a bases-loaded jam (with no outs), but got one pitch away from escaping after a strikeout and infield popup. Unfortunately, a two-out, opposite-way single through the right side knotted things at 6-6.
   
• Have no fear, as the Cardinal bats rose to the occasion in the top of the ninth and batted around... ignited by a one-out poke to right field by Gavin Thompson. The bases soon became juiced with one out before Logan Ullom's two-run single brought home speedy pinch runner Zac Woolum and Max McCann. Otterbein stayed patient, adding three more insurance runs and nearly some more before stranding a pair in scoring position.
   
• Sethna took the ball from there again, overcoming a few early hiccups before retiring three of the last four John Carroll batters.

 
NUMBERS TO KNOW:

• Ullom, Perebzak and Noah Sprowls all had multi-RBI performances in the second game while Gavin Wolf walked three times.
   
• The Cardinals drew a combined 23 free bases on the day as a whole, coming via 17 walks and six hit-by-pitches.
   
• Head Coach George Powell now stands with 597 career wins and has a chance at 600 later this week. He would be just the fifth manager in OAC history to reach the milestone.
   
• Quincel's eight HR's this season lead the conference and also rank Top-10 nationally. His 28 career blasts are now tied with Luke Barber for fourth in program history.
   
• Perebzak's stellar 18-game hitting streak came to an end in the second game, with the "Big Swagu" having racked up 30 hits during the run.

 
LOOKING AHEAD:

• The Cardinals will finally get to play on Fishbaugh Field later this week, hosting Wittenberg in a single non-conference game on Wednesday (4 p.m.) before a Good Friday doubleheader against Capital.