(WESTERVILLE, OH)--Mount Union's baseball team rallied from down 7-2 to score a 12-9 victory and salvage a split Saturday at Otterbein.  The Cardinals took the first game of the Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader with a rally of their own, 9-7.

The loss in the second game was only Otterbein's second in OAC play and left the Cardinals at 6-2 and 14-9 overall, while Mount Union stays in the top half of the league stadings at 5-5 and 14-11 overall.

Otterbein led 7-2 after five innings in game two when Mount Union rallied by loading the bases in the top of the sixth inning and junior Dan Henderson (Canton/GlenOak) got the Raiders back in the game with a grand slam to make the score 7-6.

The Purple Raiders then tied the game in the seventh on an RBI single from senior Connor Nell (Powell/Olentangy) and he was the go ahead run when Henderson sent him home on a sacrifice fly.

Mount Union added what turned out to be some valuable insurance runs in the eighth as junior Matt Tracy (Pittsburgh/Central Catholic) knocked in a run on a single before Nell hit a three-run home run to give the Raiders a 12-7 lead.

Otterbein rallied in the bottom of the eighth scoring two runs and brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth before junior Cory Douglass (Independence/Garfield Heights) came in a slammed the door for his second save of the season.

Douglass was one of three relivers that preserved the win for junior Cody Colly (Massillon/Massillon Washington) who struck out a career-high nine hitters over seven innings to improve to 4-1 on the season.

In the opener Otterbein used the long ball as they scored seven runs off four home runs to get a 9-7 victory. 

John LaCorte fanned five Mount Union hitters and improved to 7-0 for the Cardinals.

The Raiders were led at the plate by sophomore Kyle VonDuyke (Medina/Medina) had three hits and junior Britt Williams (Massillon/Massillon Jackson) hit a two-run home run.

Mount Union's road trip continues on Sunday at 1 pm when the Raiders play a non-conference doubleheader at LaRoche (PA) in Pittsburgh, PA.