Baseball splits doubleheader at Otterbein

By Wes Mayberry

WESTERVILLE — The Ohio Northern baseball team split a doubleheader at Otterbein on Wednesday, falling 10-1 in Game 1 before getting an 8-4 victory in Game 2 at Fishbaugh Field.

The Polar Bears move to 20-10 overall and 8-4 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, and the Cardinals are 22-9, 7-5.

Sophomore Blake Altaffer (Montpelier) pitched Northern to victory in Game 2, allowing just one earned run on seven hits with no walks and four strikeouts over seven innings to improve to 5-0 on the season.

Sophomore Vaughn Duncan (Springfield) pitched 1.2 innings in relief, and senior Tim Knapschaefer (Maria Stein/Marion Local) got the final out to record his third career save.

Junior Logan Stevens (Plain City/Jonathan Alder), sophomores Joey Kennedy (Sterling Heights, Mich./Foley Catholic) and Andrew Stechschulte (Findlay) and freshman Robbie Reed (Goshen, Ky./Trinity) led the ONU offense with two hits apiece.

The Polar Bears built an early 3-0 lead via an RBI single from Stevens in the first inning and a 2-RBI single from Reed in the fourth.

A solo homer from Brayden Quincel got the Cardinals on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth, but Northern answered with a four-run sixth.

Following a leadoff double from sophomore Sam Harrison (Perrysburg/St. Francis de Sales), Kennedy hit a two-out RBI single.

Senior Vinny Sclafani (Oak Brook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) later added a 2-RBI double, and senior Jacob Wenning (Coldwater) put ONU up 7-1 with an RBI single.

In the bottom of the sixth, Gavin Wolfe plated a pair of runs on a double, but an RBI single from Reed in the seventh extended the ONU lead to 8-3.

Quincel led off the bottom of the ninth with his second homer of the game, and the Cardinals had the bases loaded with two outs when Knapschaefer relieved Duncan on the mound.

Knapschaefer got Noah Sprowls to fly out to end the game.

The Polar Bears were held to just three hits in the Game 1 loss, getting a double from junior Derek Foe (Johnstown/Johnstown-Monroe) and singles from Wenning and senior Nate Webb (Bath, Ind./Union County).

The Cardinals' Andrew Nemec pitched a complete game, giving up just three walks in addition to the three hits while striking out one.

Jamie Perebzak paced the OU offense with four hits and four RBIs.

The Polar Bears return to action on Saturday for an OAC doubleheader at Capital beginning at 1 p.m.