TIFFIN – The No. 7 Heidelberg University baseball split their final home OAC doubleheader of the season on a blustery Senior Day at Peaceful Valley. Otterbein University won the first game, 19-13, but Heidelberg regrouped to take the nightcap, 8-7.

The split puts Heidelberg (29-7, 13-3 OAC) in a first-place tie with Marietta College with one OAC double left to play. The Student Princes finish at Ohio Northern and the Pioneers end with bottom-dwelling Wilmington. Ohio Northern is locked in a tie with Baldwin Wallace for the final spot in the conference tournament.

Derek Hug had six hits, including a home run off the scoreboard in right center, and three RBIs. Alex Monroe, who came on as a pinch-hitter in the first game, was 3-for-4 with a homer, three RBIs and scored four runs.

For much of the day, the Student Princes seemed off-kilter. Heidelberg committed seven errors which led to 17 unearned runs. The pitching staff allowed 27 hits and issued 11 walks on the day.

"I told our guys after the game that we were out of character all day," said 15-year head coach Matt Palm. "I don't know if it was Senior Day, or knowing that we were in the lead for the conference championship. I think we got a little ahead of ourselves and didn't perform the way we are capable of playing."

The first game started off in fine fashion for Heidelberg. The Student Princes plated four runs off of Otterbein starter Adam Collier. HU loaded the bases with a walk by Joe Staab and singles by Arneal Squibb and Alex Grove. Hug followed with an RBI fielder's choice. T.J. Harkness ripped a single up the middle for the second run. After Steven Morse was hit by a pitch, Adam Hershberger lifted a sacrifice fly to left. Trevor Oldham closed the scoring with a basehit up the middle.

In the second, though, Otterbein responded – with 11 runs. The outburst was aided by a key error in the outfield and a monster three-run home run over the scoreboard by Brock Frentzel.

The Student Princes scored in seven of their nine innings, but each rally was thwarted by another big inning by the Cardinals, who added four runs in both the fifth and eighth innings.

Heidelberg's struggles rolled over to the beginning of the second game, as Otterbein led 3-0 after 1.5 innings.

In the bottom of the second, the Berg rallied to tie the game. Hershberger drew a bases-loaded walk and Staab lined a two-run single to left.

Back-to-back RBI singles to left by Oldham and Hershberger gave the Student Princes a two-run lead.

After Otterbein bounced back to even with a pair in the fifth, Heidelberg answered right back. Hug singled past a diving Jake Simmerman at first. Otterbein start Ben Hamilton seemed content on keeping Hug on first, attempting numerous pickoffs. A distracted Hamilton served up a two-run homer to left by Monroe, putting the Student Princes back up a pair.

Freshman Derek Hendrixson relieved game two starter Steve Huber in the sixth. Huber fanned six and allowed five runs, two earned, in five innings. Hendrixson struck out the side in the sixth but ran into trouble in the seventh. A single, double and single to start cut the HU lead to 7-6. With runners on the corners and two strikes on Oskar Thorsberg, Otterbein started the runner on first. Hendrixson struck out Thorsberg, but the throw to second was off the mark, allowing the tying run to score from third.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Student Princes scored the eventual game-winning run – barely. Hershberger singled to left and moved to second on a sacrifice by Andrew Zenczak. Staab and Harkness, pinch-hitting, followed with walks. After a pitching change, Grove sent a bouncer to Sean Kettering at shortstop. Kettering flipped to Taylor Hutchison at second for the force, but Grove narrowly beat the relay at first. The fielder's choice allowed Hershberger to score.

Otterbein (22-13, 7-9 OAC) stranded the potential tying run in scoring position in both the eighth and ninth inning. Hendrixson (6-1) allowed two runs, one earned, and struck out six in four innings.

Following the game, the Heidelberg baseball program recognized six seniors – Karl Boedecker, Zach O'Driscoll, Squibb, Staab, Chris Thomas, and Zenczak – for their meritorious contributions to the team. After the ceremony, Palm, who in January announced his decision to step down following the campaign, was also recognized for his coaching efforts. Palm will remain as Heidelberg's athletic director.

Should the Student Princes and Pioneers finish with the same record, they will be declared co-champions of the conference. The host site of the tournament would be decided by a secondary tiebreaker, which would likely be decided by the final record of Otterbein and Muskingum.

Heidelberg hosts a pair of non-conference single games prior to Saturday's 1 p.m. twinbill at Ohio Northern. Wittenberg visits Peaceful Valley on Tuesday and Palm's alma mater, Wooster, visits in the home finale on Wednesday. Both games start at 4 p.m.