After having their double-header pushed back to Monday, the Otterbein baseball team had eight days of rest to prepare for Baldwin Wallace. The rust from all the days off showed up in game one, as the Cardinals were shutdown 12-3, but bounced back in game two for a 7-3 win.
On the hill for the Cardinals in game one was sophomore standout, Robert Kemer, who came into the game with a 3-0 record. Kemer was able to tightrope his way through trouble in the first three innings, but the wheels fell off in the fourth inning. With Otterbein leading the Yellow Jackets 2-1, Kemer gave up five straight hits to open the fourth inning, before recording the first out. After a walk loaded the bases, Kemer was lifted for freshman lefty, Stevie Yuran. A wild pitch let in the runner from third, before junior Hunter Handel launched a three-run home run off a car in the parking lot beyond the right field wall, making the score 8-2.
Yuran retired the next six batters before a bang-bang call at first allowed Mark Zimmerman to reach base. Handel faced Yuran for a second time, and the result was the same, a two-run home run over the right-centerfield fence made the score 10-2. Baldwin Wallace extended the lead to 10 at 12-2, before the Cardinals pushed across a run in the bottom of the ninth.
Otterbein's fortune changed for the better in game two, as they jumped out in front in the third inning. Senior Sean Kettering drove in senior Nich Pitzer on a line-drive single, before Jake Simmerman launched his OAC leading fifth home run to make the lead 3-0. Handel and the Yellow Jackets responded in the fourth inning with another two-run home run to cut into the deficit at 3-2. An RBI single from Pitzer bumped the Cardinals lead back up to two, before Zimmerman drove in a run with a sac fly in the fifth inning, making the score 4-3.
The Cardinals took control of the game from the fifth inning on, adding single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, capped off by a solo home run from Tyler Kent. Senior Taylor Ellis pitched five innings of three run baseball, striking out four Baldwin Wallace hitters and recording his second win of the season. Otterbein's bullpen shut down the Yellow Jacket's offense the rest of the way, holding on for a 7-3 victory.
After the games, Coach George Powell said "All conference wins are important no matter who they come against. We feel we are a very good team as well and want to win our conference and play at a national level year after year. To do that we have to beat good teams and good programs like (Baldwin Wallace and Marietta)."
Otterbein's record moves to 15-5 and 4-2 in the OAC, the next games the team plays will be a double header Wednesday at Ohio Northern.
