Wednesday afternoon marked the return home for the Otterbein baseball team. The Cardinals spent spring break in Florida, racking up a 9-1 record, before returning to Ohio, where they defeated La Roche to improve to 10-1, their best start in school history. On Wednesday, Otterbein played at Fishbaugh Field for the first time in 2015, recording a hard fought 10-9 victory over Wittenberg.
The Cardinals got off to a rocky start, as the Tigers scored four runs in the first before Otterbein even got back into the dugout. Two fielding errors led to the four runs. Cardinal starter, sophomore Ross Wilson, allowed three hits and a walk to go along with the two errors. Ross managed to hang in there and give the Cardinals five innings of work.
Junior Tyler Kent homered to left field in the first to get Otterbein on the board and cut into the lead at 4-1. The Tigers answered back in the top of the second with three more hits and a third Otterbein error leading, to two more runs. Otterbein was quick to respond, as sophomore Brock Frentzel homered to right field leading off the bottom half of the inning. Three more hits and an error by the Tigers allowed the Cards to cut the lead to 6-4 after an eventful first two innings.
The score remained the same until the fourth when junior Taylor Hutchison scored on a passed ball and senior Sean Kettering hit a sacrifice fly to center, evening the score at six. Kettering gave the Cards the lead in the sixth on a single up the middle, bringing Kent home. Kent extended the lead in the seventh on a hard single to right, scoring senior Nich Pitzer. The teams traded runs in the eighth before the Tigers tied the game in the ninth on a two run single, making the score 9-9 heading to the bottom half of the final frame.
In an interesting series of events, the Cardinals were able to load the bases with nobody out. A Tiger's fielding error allowed Pitzer to reach first leading off the inning, then two straight bunt singles left the sacks full for Kettering. He didn't drag the suspense out, singling up the middle and securing the victory for the Cards. Freshman Stevie Yuran got the win after retiring the lone batter he faced in the ninth, improving his record to 3-0 already this season.
So far this year, Otterbein looks to have something special going on. Beyond the 11-1 record, the best start in school history, the Cards have already had four wins by a single run with three of them coming in extra innings.
When asked about the team's success, junior Justin Roberts pointed out the team chemistry. "With good team chemistry comes more trust and belief in each other and it makes it easier to play to our potentials. I've always thought the team chemistry has been good in the past, but this year it seems to be on a whole other level. There's no one that thinks just about themselves and we're all in it together."
The Cardinals open OAC play this Saturday against Marietta.
