PHOTO GALLERY (coming soon)

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – It was even better than a Wendy's Meal Deal to punctuate the weekend at Fishbaugh Field, as the Otterbein baseball team created its own "4 for 4" special with yet another OAC doubleheader sweep.

Roughly 18 hours after taking both games from Heidelberg on Saturday, the Cardinals returned to their home diamond on Sunday for a rescheduled twinbill with Marietta as the league scheduled works through it hearty point.

Otterbein claimed the opener 14-7 behind a near complete-game effort from Bryson Bell, and then worked all the way to the wire in securing an 8-7 walk-off finish in the rematch. As a result, the squad moves to 22-7 overall and a smooth 8-2 record within the conference.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS:

• The Pioneers crossed an early run before Otterbein got itself going, posting a combined six tallies across the second and third innings. Gavin Wolf smoked an RBI-double before he and Logan Ullom helped orchestrate a double steal to score another.
   
• Jamie Perebzak and Max McCann delivered RBI hits in the third, but Marietta worked back to tie the contest at 6-6 by the middle of the fifth inning.
   
• Gavin Thompson pulled the momentum right back to the home side with a two-run homer in the bottom half, and the Cardinals never trailed again. Four additional runs came in the next frame, highlighted by a three-run blast from Perebzak to bust the gates open.
   
• Bell nearly went the distance on the mound, throwing north of 120 pitches and improving to a 4-1 record this season. He allowed just two earned runs over 8.2 innings of work.
   
• Five Cardinals tallied multi-hit games for an offense that continues to rank among the Top-10 nationally.

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS:

• The second affair would see no scoring until Otterbein crossed a trio in the third, including a longball from Ullom and Brayden Quincel moving the baseball for a sac fly.
   
• The Pioneers found a groove in the middle frames with a few extra-base hits and eventually took a 4-3 lead, although that would be short lived as the Cards jumped right back in front with a nice bottom of the fifth…
   
• A Marietta throwing error allowed the leadoff runner on base, and three of the next four Cardinals reached (including an RBI poke from Ullom) to force the visitors into their bullpen again. Adam Folk doubled in the first at-bat following the change and the lineup batted around, resulting in a 7-4 lead.
   
• The Pioneers slowly worked themselves back into the contest with a solo run in the seventh, eighth and top of the ninth, as Otterbein brought the infield in (with one out) but still had to make a play at first and concede the equalizing run in the ninth.
   
• Have no fear, as the home side was able to escape during its final plate appearance on a pair of Marietta mishaps in the field. A one-out error placed Max McCann aboard… and two-out (infield) single moved the winning run into scoring position. Caden Kirker pinch ran for previous pinch runner Caleb Bond, and a ball to shortstop off the bat of pinch hitter Minseo Jang was booted enough to allow Kirker to fly around from second.
   
• Grady Kehr went 4.1 innings as the starting pitcher in a critical spot before Braydon McCloskey and Sam Sethna helped do the rest. Sethna tossed the final three and became the winner, earning, his second victory on the bump.
   
• Ullom and Folk combined to hit 6 for 9 in the bottom two spots of a potent lineup.
   

STAY GRINDING:

More work lies ahead for an Otterbein team that is currently trailing nationally-ranked Baldwin Wallace by one game atop the league standings. The Cardinals will have amid-week doubleheader at Ohio Northern before also traveling to BW next weekend.