After starting conference play with a sweep at Wilmington, the Otterbein baseball team was swept by the Heidelberg Student Princes Sunday.
Despite two solid pitching performances by Doug Stevens and Dan Remenowsky, timely Heidelberg hitting led to the Cardinals demise, as they lost 7-4 and 9-4 to the Student Princes.
In game one, senior pitcher Dan Remenowsky was handed the first loss since March 26, 2006.
The senior pitcher was on the verge of perfection until a lead off, fifth-inning hit by Heidelberg designated hitter Cody James.
"Obviously I am upset about the game, but I am not out there pitching for my own success," said Remenowsky. "I just focus on getting the win for the team."
Despite eight strikeouts, Remenowsky gave up five runs in the sixth inning.
The Cardinals struck first with sophomore Brian Hiscox's solo home run in the fourth inning. After Heidelberg's six-run outburst in the sixth inning, junior Kyle Dyar hit a solo home run to make it a 7-2 ballgame.
Heidelberg tacked on one more run in the seventh, which was enough to get the win, despite two Cardinal runs in the seventh inning.
"We need to focus more," said sophomore Brian Hiscox. "Sunday we didn't get very many quality at-bats, and we need to do that in order to win."
Game number two saw senior Doug Stevens give a quality outing, but more offensive struggles and superb Heidelberg hitting led to the loss.
Doug Stevens suffered his first loss of the season as the Cardinals fell 9-4. The loss drops the Cardinals to 10 -6 and 2-2 in OAC play.
At the plate for Otterbein sophomore Brandon Gessner and senior Pat Connor both hit two-run home runs, which was all the offense that the Cardinals could muster.
The defensive problems continued as three Cardinal errors led to six Heidelberg runs. "The best team doesn't always win. That's why a baseball season is so long, so the better teams filter to the top over an extended period of time," said Hiscox.
However, on Tuesday against Denison University, the defense let the Cardinals down again. With another three errors the Cardinals lost 8-3. The Cardinals allowed five unearned runs.
Freshman John LaCorte went six innings, striking out three and giving up five hits.Senior J.J. Matthews pitched in relief and ended up receiving the loss, dropping his record to 1-3.
With the loss to Denison, the Cardinal's record is now 10-7 overall and 2-2 in the OAC.
The Cardinals travel to Berea to face Baldwin-Wallace in a double-header.Baldwin-Wallace is 10-10-1 overall (with a rare tie against Case Western) and 2-4 in OAC play. The game was postponed from Wednesday. t&c;
