Mount Union finishes 20-18 overall and 9-9 in the OAC, while
Otterbein is 20-15 overall and at 10-6 in the OAC has clinched a
spot in next week's OAC Tournament.
In game one, the Raiders sent 13 batters to the plate and scored
eight runs in the first inning as they went on to an 11-4 win.
Greg Ferrell (Uniontown/Green) led off the inning with a home
run.
Craig Knott (Canton/GlenOak) scored on a wild pitch, Nate
McFarland (Canton/GlenOak) had an RBI single and Kyle VonDuyke
(Medina/Medina) drove in two runs on a single.
Ferrell drove in his second run of the inning in his second
at-bat with a single and Matt Tracy (Pittsburgh, PA/Central
Catholic) finished the frame with a two-RBI single.
Otterbein cut the lead in half with a run in the second, another
run in the fourth and two in the sixth.
Mount Union put the game away in the bottom of the sixth with three
more runs on RBI doubles from Knott and Grant Sevek (Salem/Salem)
along with an RBI single from Bobby Huth
(Massillon/Washington).
All of this was more than enough for starter Paul Mariotti
(Copley/Copley) who scattered nine hits and struck out seven as he
went the distance for the win.
In game two, Mount Union took a 1-0 lead in the second inning as
Cory Slaybaugh (Hartville/Lake) was hit by a pitch to start the
inning and later scored on a Huth single.
Otterbein took the lead for good in the fourth inning as Dan
Lassak, who hit a home run in the first game, blasted a two-run
shot that made the score 2-1 and the Cardinals would tack another
one on the board to make it 3-1.
Otterbein would extend the lead to 4-1 with another run in the
sixth.
Mount Union would try to rally as Ferrell led off the bottom of
the sixth on the double and score on a Tracy single but Otterbein
would go to the pen and Alex Hayes would come in and allow only one
hit the rest of the way.
The Cardinals would pull away with three more runs, two in the
eighth and Lassak would hit his second homer of the game and third
on the day with a solo shot in the ninth for the 7-2 final.
