WESTERVILLE, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers jumped out to a 6-1 lead over the first two innings, but it didn't hold up as Otterbein pulled out a 10-9 victory on a walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth.

The loss dropped Wittenberg to 3-5 on the season in its first game in the Buckeye state after seven contests during Spring Break week in Florida. Otterbein improved to 11-1.

Wittenberg struck first with a four-run rally to open the game in the top of the first inning, punctuated by an RBI double from senior Aaron Patrick (Eldorado, Ohio/Tri-Valley). After Otterbein answered with a home run in the bottom of the inning, the Tigers tacked on two more in the top of the second on RBI singles from sophomore Cal Slusarz (Chesterland, Ohio/West Geauga) and sophomore Dalton Boucher (Granville, Ohio/Granville).

Otterbein got two runs back in the bottom of the second and then tied the game on a passed ball and a sacrifice fly in the fourth. The Cardinals then pushed in front, collecting single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth that were countered by a lone Tiger score in the eighth.

That set the stage for a wide ninth inning, which started with Wittenberg drawing even on a two-run single off Patrick's bat, scoring sophomore Dimitrious Dimitroff (Springfield, Ohio/Catholic Central) and junior Corey Farnbauch (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson). After Wittenberg left the potential winning run on base, Otterbein had the ultimate answer, parlaying an error, a pair of bunt singles into a bases-loaded, no-outs situation that ended with a game-winning single to center.

Boucher finished with game 3-for-4 with three runs batted in, while Patrick finished 2-of-3 with three RBIs. Farnbauch, Boucher and senior Zac Wilson (Eaton, Ohio/Eaton) each scored two runs for the Tigers.

Seven different Tigers pitched in the game, with sophomore Trent Champlin (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln) taking the loss after allowing two runs on five hits in an inning-plus to close the game.

Written By: Ryan Maurer