Mount Union's baseball team (20-16, 11-7 OAC) split with Ohio Athletic Conference rival Otterbein (25-12, 12-6 OAC) in Westerville, Ohio.  Otterbein won the first game 12-0 and the Raiders took the second 11-6.

In game one, Otterbein's pitching staff proved to be too much for Mount Union to handle as the Raiders tallied just five hits compared to the Cardinals 12.

Leaders for the Purple and White were senior Jon Schulz, who went 1-2, freshman Greg Ferrell and junior Nate McFarland went 1-3 respectively and senior Mike Almasy was 2-3.

Sophomore starting pitcher Paul Mariotti (6-2) suffered the loss in the first contest.  He struck out two and walked only three in his outing.

The bats came alive in game two as the Raiders were victorious over Otterbein.  Mount Union would attack first in the top of the second inning with a lead-off double from senior Andy Warner.  Warner would score off of sophomore Connor Nell's grounder.  The Cardinals would bounce back with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning.

In the top of the fourth inning, Warner and sophomore Cory Slaybaugh hit back to back doubles.  Nell drove both runs in, making the score 4-2.  Almasy singled to the left side, scoring Nell, ending the inning 5-2.

The Purple and White added three more runs in the top of the sixth and seventh and Otterbein added five more runs.

In the top of the ninth inning, the Raiders would add three more runs to their total.  Highlighting the inning were Ferrell, who hit a two run home run, and an RBI single from Slaybaugh. 

Offensively, Mount Union was led by Ferrell, who was 3-5, including a home run and three RBI, Warner, who went 4-5 with 3 RBI, and Nell, who went 2-5 with three RBI.

Joe Irwin (6-1) received the win, pitching six innings, with six strikeouts four walks and only fouyr earned runs.

With the split coupled with a John Carroll loss to Heidelberg, Mount Union clinches a spot in the 2008 Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament.  The Raiders enter as the #4 seed and will play #1 seed Heidelberg on Thursday, May 8 at 4 p.m. from Tiffin, Ohio.