The Denison baseball team suffered their first two losses in North Coast Athletic Conference play this season after dropping a doubleheader to rival Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday in Granville. The Bishops won the opener 7-1 and took the nightcap 9-4.

In addition to dropping their first two games in NCAC West play, the Big Red also saw their 13-game home winning streak come to an end. Saturday's sweep marked DU's first loss in Granville in exactly one year.

In game one, the Bishops scored seven times in the first six and a half inning to take a commanding 7-0 lead. Denison broke up the shutout bid in the seventh when junior Tucker Davison scored on a sacrifice fly to center by sophomore Noah Hahn. Davison went 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored off the bench, while Connor Green also had a pinch-hit single. Sophomore Zack Huarte suffered the loss after allowing five runs (four earned) on nine hits with five strikeouts in 5.2 innings. Sophomore Andrew Bruss gave up two runs on two hits in two-thirds of an inning, while junior Matthew Zmuda surrendered just one hit over the final two-thirds of a frame.

OWU's potent offense was on display once again in the second game, scoring the first nine runs of the contest. In addition to the strong offensive showing, the Bishops received an impressive outing from last year's NCAC Pitcher of the Year, Kevin Zullo. Over the first six innings, Zullo limited the Big Red to just three hits.

Denison started to get to Zullo in the seventh, scoring two times on four hits. Davison plated Evan Flax with a base hit to right center, while senior Duncan Moran ripped a single up the middle that scored Eric Zmuda. The Big Red continued to chip away in the eighth as Zmuda doubled in Flax, while sophomore Sam Frazen knocked in Zmuda with a single to left to shrink the deficit to 9-4. That was as close as DU would get as relief pitcher Brett Kiser struck out the side in the ninth to secure the OWU win.

Zmuda went 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs and an RBI in game two, while Flax finished with two hits and two runs. Sophomore Perley Provost took the loss after giving up six runs on nine hits in six innings. Cody Mauri pitched the seventh, while junior JT Trimble tossed two hitless innings to close out the game.

Denison falls to 20-8 on the year and 8-2 in the NCAC West, while the Bishops improve to 19-9 and 6-4 in division play. The two teams return to Big Red field to wrap up the four-game series on Sunday at 12 p.m.