With back-to-back postponements, sophomore Max Ramsey used the extra days to continue refining his approach at the plate.

The extra work paid huge dividends Thursday as Ramsey went 5-for-6 as the Wilmington College baseball team split an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader with Otterbein at Tewksbury-Delaney Field. The Fightin' Quakers lost the first game, 6-3, and then rebounded to hold on for the 5-4 win in the nightcap.

"We changed his whole approach at the plate, and he hit the heck out of the ball today," said Wilmington head coach Dan Cleaver. "Max had lost confidence, completely. Some of the things you change, you change to give him a completely new approach. Technically, Max was lunging and resting on his front foot when he made contact. As soon as we started working on it, and it took a while … His back foot was coming off the ground, so we just worked on his technique.   Max started working, understanding if you keep your weight back and hit the ball out in front, and now he is getting it done."

Ramsey (Waynesville, OH/Waynesville) came into the doubleheader with nine hits on the season (9-for-49), hitting .183. He stroked two singles in two at-bats with a walk and a sacrifice in the opener and was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI in the second game.

The sophomore wasn't the only player to seemingly shake some of the offensive doldrums. Senior Brandon Arehart (Wilmington, OH/Wilmington) recorded his first extra base-hit in 10 games – smacking two doubles in the nightcap. As a team, the Fightin' Quakers recorded six extra base-hits, including a sophomore Clay Cleaver (Pleasant Plains, OH/Little Miami) triple – which was the team's first three bagger on the season.

Freshman Ryan Henning (Milford, OH/Milford) recorded multiple hits in both games, going 4-for-7 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI.

"The bats are coming around a little bit, but the credit goes to (the players)," said Cleaver. "Things are getting better hitting-wise, and it starting to catch up with the pitching. Our pitching has been great the entire year. I think we can finish up strong here with some wins."

Starters Corey Walker (Hillsboro, OH/Hillsboro) and Cleaver allowed four earned runs in 12 innings. Walker (1-5), who earned the win in the nightcap, allowed just two earned runs on eight hits in seven innings of work, striking out three and walking two. Cleaver picked up the no-decision in the first game, allowing two earned runs in five innings of action with three walks and two strikeouts.

"We got two good outings from Clay and Corey, and we also got some good relief appearances today," said Cleaver. "We have numbers when it comes to relief pitching, and there are a number of guys we can count on."

Freshman Samuel Cranor (Cincinnati, OH/LaSalle) relieved Cleaver in the sixth, and promptly wiggled out of a bases loaded, no out jam to keep the game tied at two. However, he didn't quite have the same results in the seventh as the Cardinals plated three runs – two unearned – thanks to two Wilmington errors.

Walker, Ramsey and Henning each had two hits in the opener.

Sophomore Blake Schmidt (Cincinnati, OH/McNicholas), who had three hits on the season, was in the middle of two pivotal scoring innings in the nightcap. His first of two hits knotted the game at two in the fifth inning, and then he came around to score the go-ahead run on a Arehart single. It was the first multi-hit game of his career. Cleaver's triple scored Arehart to give the Fightin' Quakers an insurance run.

Then he kicked off the seventh inning with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice and scored on an Arehart double. That run proved pivotal as a two-run homer off reliever Austin Merkle (Wilmington, OH/Clinton-Massie) in the top of the ninth pulled the Cardinals to within one, 5-4.

"Merk was good and his stuff was fine," said Cleaver. "You make a mistake, and they make you pay for it. He made that good second pitch on the three-hitter to get a pop up. He was down to one mistake. He walks the next guy or the guy hits the ball hard, and it because he was up in the zone – he was coming out."

No need to dig deeper into the bullpen as Merkle navigated through two hitters that both hit longballs in the opener to nail down his first career save, allowing two runs in two innings of work.

Arehart was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI, while Schmidt, Henning and Cleaver all had two hits.

Wilmington (3-21 overall, 2-10 OAC) won't have much time to enjoy the victory as it hosts nationally-ranked Heidelberg 1 p.m. Friday.