WESTERVILLE, OH - The Case Western Reserve baseball team used a seven-run fifth inning and five strong innings of relief from Neal Krentz (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser) to defeat host Otterbein College, 7-5, in the second game of a doubleheader to earn a split.

Trailing 4-0 entering the fifth inning of the nightcap, the Spartans struck for seven two-out runs on six hits to take a 7-4 lead. With one out, sophomore rightfielder Antonio Damiano (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast) singled to left field and advanced to second on an error. One out later, he moved to third on a balk and scored on a single by sophomore leftfielder Josh Neal (Gaithersburg, Md./St. John's College). Senior third baseman Andrew Gronski (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) hit his second home run of the season to cut the lead to 4-3.

CWRU kept the rally going after the Gronski home run when senior second baseman Kerrigan Cain (Hartville, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) walked, senior designated hitter Jordan Swisher (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland) singled, and senior first baseman Rob Winemiller (Twinsburg, Ohio/University School) followed with a run-scoring single to tie the game. Sophomore centerfielder Aaron Cain (Hartville, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) was hit by a pitch to load the bases adn sophomore catcher Eric Eldred (Tecumseh, Mich./Tecumseh) singled to left to score Swisher and Winemiller for a 6-4 Spartan lead. Damiano reached on an error to score Aaron Cain and complete the seven-run inning.

Krentz entered the game in the bottom of the fifth inning and yielded just one unearned run and four hits in five innings, striking out six to earn the win and improve to 3-0 this season.

Neal finished the game 3-for-5 with a run scored and one run batted in, and Winemiller went 2-for-4 with a run scored and one RBI.

Neal went 6-for-9 with four runs scored and three runs batted in for the doubleheader as he contributed thee hits, three runs scored, and two runs batted in despite an 8-7 Spartan loss in the first game.

Gronski went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three runs batted in as he and Neal accounted for six of the 10 CWRU hits in the opener.

With the split, the Spartans moved to 19-11 on the season, while Otterbein moved to 22-9. CWRU heads to Greencastle, IN this weekend to face DePauw University and UAA rival Washington University on Saturday and Sunday.