FORT MYERS, Fla. – A late-week split will carry the Otterbein baseball team into a closing weekend at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic after the Cardinals buried Rockford on Thursday, before having to swallow a setback to Hiram on Friday afternoon inside the main Terry Park Stadium.

ROCKFORD HIGHLIGHTS (W 11-1):

• Senior Luke Perigo delivered the best start of his career, allowing just one run over seven innings. He worked out of a few tricky spots to ultimately fan seven Regents.
   
• Rockford crossed its only run during the top of the first, but Jamie Perebzak launched a two-run homer about a half mile to right-center that put Otterbein on top 2-1.
   
• That score remained the same midway through the fifth inning as the Cards grounded into inning-ending double plays in the third and fourth.
   
• Otterbein would bat around in the fifth to ultimately cross five runs and bust the game open. Two infield errors by Rockford helped elongate the frame, which later saw RBI knocks from Gavin Wolf and Perebak before a sac fly from Brayden Quincel brought home another.
   
• The Cards added two more in the next frame behind a double steal and Max McCann moving the baseball. Perigo worked around two walks in the top of the seventh (his last) but punctuated his day with a backwards K.
   
• Freshman lefty Brady Heagen tossed a scoreless eighth, and Otterbein achieved a run-rule decision in the bottom half to cement the day.
   
• Perebzak and McCann both tallied three-hit games while Quincel and designate hitter Minseo Jang were on both three times, each walking twice with a patient stick.

HIRAM HIGHLIGHTS (L 11-5):

• Otterbein was the home team once again after head coach George Powell improved to 3-0 in coin flips, but the Cards fell behind 2-0 after Hiram catcher Evan Fairbanks launched a two-run homer in the second.
   
• The contest morphed into a pitching duel between Braydon McCloskey and Terrier right-hander Nicolas Chernitsky from that point, as the opening five innings sailed through in roughly one hour of real time.
   
• Chertnistky carried a no-hitter into the fourth before that was broken up on consecutive singles from Jamie Perebzak and Brayden Quincel, but both runners would be left stranded.
   
• The Cards finally broke through in the fifth (taking a 3-2 lead) with Max McCann beating out an infield single to second base for starters. Leadoff man Brayden Carter then hustled down the line after a check-swing dribbler to the third-base side, and hustled all the way around to score a tying run after an incoming throw in the dirt sailed off down the right-field line...
   
• Noah Sprowls walked directly after, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored a go-ahead run moments later on yet another infield single (this time from Perebzak on a high chopper).
   
• Otterbein went to freshman Jake Carfangia in the sixth for his college debut, and the freshman right-hander appeared to have gotten the lead runner at third base on a sac bunt with two on and nobody out. However, a Hiram runner was ruled to have slid in safely as Quincel straddled the bag but looked to apply a prompt tag…
   
• Hiram would ultimately plate six runs in the marathon frame after a few hits and other free bases ensued. Fairbanks then skyrocketed a three-run blast to the same spot in left field just before the seventh-inning stretch that busted the game open to 11-3.
   
• Quincel delivered his fourth home run of the spring with a two-run shot in the eighth, but it wouldn't be nearly enough as Hiram emerged victorious on its final day of the event.
   
• McCloskey took a no-decision after his five solid frames while freshman Grady Kehr was sharp in relief with 2.1 scoreless down the stretch. Perebzak was 3 for 4 offensively.

IT'S THE WEEKEND:

• An important Saturday doubleheader will pit the Cardinals against Rhode Island College, a team receiving votes in the latest national poll. Otterbein then finishes on Sunday morning against a more familiar foe in Ohio Wesleyan.