WESTERVILLE — The Otterbein baseball team closed out its 2025 season with a 9-6 loss to Ohio Athletic Conference foe Wilmington on a stormy Senior Day on Saturday. The opening game of the regularly scheduled doubleheader featured two lightning delays totaling two hours and 48 minutes, and the second game was ultimately canceled due to impending darkness.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (14-23 overall, 3-14 OAC), Wilmington (12-24 overall, 3-14 OAC)
• Venue: Fishbaugh Field - Westerville, Ohio
• Otterbein recognized seniors Bryson Bell, Tyler Biddle, Jake Brown, Drew Firchau, Charlie Greenlief, Noah Gruver, Robby Kain, Max Latkovski, Max McCann, Connor Prince, Zac Taylor, Logan Ullom and Jaron Yoshikane as well as graduate students Henry Conrad, Joey Conrad, Caden Kirker, Jamie Perebzak and Luke Perigo as part of Saturday's Senior Day festivities.

Otterbein Stat Leaders - Game 1

• Sophomore Nolan James reached base four times, tallying two hits and two walks to go with two RBIs and one run. One of his hits was a double.
• Taylor also reached base four times, getting two hits and two walks while adding three runs.
• Ullom posted one hit and two RBIs.
• Greenlief and Kirker each added one hit and one RBI.

Game Highlights

• Wilmington got on the board first with a run in the top of the first inning via an RBI single. Otterbein answered in the bottom of the frame on an RBI sac fly from Ullom.
• In the middle of the third inning, the teams vacated the field for what would be a 48-minute lightning delay.
• The Cardinals took a 2-1 edge in the bottom of the third inning on a one-out RBI double from James.
• Otterbein plated two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Taylor led off with a single, Perebzak was hit by a pitch, and Ullom followed with an RBI single. James proceeded to draw a walk to load the bases, and Greenlief brought in another run when he was hit by a pitch, making the score 4-1. After making a pitching change, the Quakers induced three consecutive outs to remain within striking distance.
• The Cardinals increased their lead to 5-1 on a two-out RBI single from James in the bottom of the sixth.
• The Quakers cut the deficit to 5-4 with three runs in the top of the seventh coming via a 2-RBI single and RBI single.
• Wilmington added four more runs in the top of the eighth to take an 8-5 lead. The runs came courtesy of an RBI single and 3-RBI double to deep right field on back-to-back at-bats with one out.
• Lightning was detected again in the middle of the eighth inning, sending both teams indoors as a steady rain began to fall.
• The teams returned to the field after a two-hour delay, and Otterbein proceeded to draw back-to-back walks to put two men on base with no outs. Following a pitching change, the Quakers got out of the jam with a popup and a double play.
• Wilmington extended its lead to 9-5 with a one-out RBI single in the top of the ninth.
• James drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the ninth, and Latkovski followed with a single. Kirker added a one-out RBI single that scored James, and Latkovski was thrown out trying to advance to third on the play for the second out as the Quakers went on to claim the win.
• Wilmington out-hit Otterbein by a 15-10 margin. Each team committed two errors.

Notables 

• Named the OAC Player of the Year and CSC Second Team Academic All-America in 2024, Perebzak is Otterbein's all-time leader in RBIs (194) and games played (183). He ranks third all-time at Otterbein in hits (234), third in doubles (50), is tied for seventh in home runs (25) and is eighth in runs (135).
• Ullom has 123 hits, 27 doubles and 54 RBIs in his Otterbein career.
• Entering Monday, Ullom was tied for the OAC lead in hits (54) and tied for seventh in doubles (12) on the season. Perebzak and James were tied for sixth in home runs (5), and Greenlief ranked seventh in batting average (.367) and tied for ninth in hits (47).
• Head coach George Powell is in his 26th year at Otterbein and has an all-time record of 622-443-1 at the helm of the Cardinals. He finishes the season two wins away from tying his mentor and former Otterbein legend Dick Fishbaugh (624) for most coaching wins in program history and fifth all-time in OAC history. Powell is a six-time OAC Coach of the Year honoree and has coached the Cardinals to three OAC regular-season championships and six OAC Tournament titles. The program has been led by just two head coaches over the past 60 years.