ALLIANCE, Ohio – Mount Union's baseball team earned a split winning the opener 8-5 and falling in the night cap, 7-5, to Ohio Northern in an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader Saturday at Rafeld-Rogers Field.

The Purple Raiders win three of the four games of the weekend series and stand at 10-4 overall and 8-4 in the conference, while Ohio Northern is 4-10 overall and 3-8 in the OAC.

Northern scored three runs on three hits in the first inning of game one, but Raiders starter Ryan Osman (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Moon) allowed just six hits and struck out six over the next 7 innings to pick up his first win of the season. At the plate, left fielder Nate Duliba (Berea / Berea-Midpark) drove in five runs on four hits to pace the offense for Mount Union in an 8-5 win.

Down 3-0, the Raiders scored eight unanswered with two in the third and a five-run fifth, with the big hit in that inning a bases loaded double from Duliba that plated three runs, and a solo run in the eighth. Northern got the first two on the ninth to chase Osman and they eventually came around to score but Colin Skufca (Wooster) came on and got a strikeout and a double play to the end the game.

In game two, Mount Union took advantage of a Polar Bear error in the second to plate three runs – one on a Coleman Stauffer (Boardman) single and a two on a double from Zack Mazza (Flint, Mich. / Powers Catholic). Northern battled back and tied the game with three in the third and took the lead with two runs in the fourth and a run in the fifth to take a 6-3 lead.

The Raiders mounted a rally of their own in the seventh as Stauffer reached on an error and scored on a Mazza double. Mazza then came home on an Eric Schilling (Stow / Stow-Munroe Falls) double and Mount Union closed to within a run, 6-5.

Mount Union stranded the tying run on second in the eighth, then Northern added an unearned run in the ninth

Mazza ended up driving in three runs on a pair of doubles and Chuck Hawley (Mentor) took the loss giving up five runs on eight hits over four innings in his first college start.

Michael Rocco and Will Davis each had two RBI,Tom Pitko did not allow an earned run over 6.2 innings to get the win and Devin Johnson earned the save for the Polar Bears.

The Raiders will play a four-game conference series with Muskingum next weekend hosting the Muskies Saturday, April 10 at 1 p.m. at Rafeld-Rogers Field then playing Sunday at 1 p.m.