Baseball falls in double header with No. 20 Otterbein

By Caleb Scott

ADA -- The Ohio Northern baseball team dropped two games Saturday afternoon as they fell to No. 20-ranked Otterbein at Wander Field.

The Polar Bears fall to 8-9 overall and 0-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Cardinals improve to 14-4, 2-0.

In game one junior Jason Burkett (Maumee) led ONU at the plate as he went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.

Junior Hayden Shenefield (Powell/Worthington Kilbourne) led Northern in game two, going 1-for-3 at the plate, including a home run and adding two RBI and a run scored.

The Cardinals got on the board first in the top of the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead.

Northern answered in the bottom of the first after sophomore Caleb Thomas (Strongsville) singled and Shenefield drove him home with an RBI single to center field.

The Polar Bears would take their first lead of the contest after Burkett scored on a bases loaded walk and sophomore Luke Klinehoffer (Zanesville/John Glenn) earned the RBI.

Otterbein would answer in the top of the fifth inning as they posted an 8-run inning to take a convincing 9-2 lead.

Northern would begin to rally in the top of the eighth inning after junior Jordan Bostater (Bryan) singled to center field and Burkett hit a 2-RBI home run over the right field fence.

The Cardinal defense would close out the contest as Otterbein went on to win game one 9-4.

In the night cap on the twinbill, Otterbein opened the game with an early score in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead.

Shenefield would answer for the Polar Bears in the bottom of the second as he hit a 2-RBI home run over the left field fence to drive home Bostater and give ONU a 2-1 lead.

OU would retake the lead in the top of the fifth inning after scoring two runs to take a 3-2 lead.

The Cardinals added one more run in the top of the seventh to seal the 4-2 victory.

The Polar Bears return to action Tuesday afternoon as they play host to Denison at Wander Field at 4 p.m.