ROCHELLE — The Rochelle Hub varsity baseball team began its final Interstate 8 Conference series of the season on Monday, when the purple and white squared off against Ottawa. 

Junior Ryan Senne collected two RBIs, while sophomore Brode Metzger went 2-for-4 and scored two runs as the Hubs fell to the Pirates 10-6. With the game tied after four innings, Ottawa tallied two runs over both the sixth and seventh innings to seal the conference win. Rochelle (5-16, 0-12 Interstate 8) will travel to face the Pirates on the road Tuesday night.

Senne belted a two-run double in the bottom of the second inning, sending the ball into center field to score seniors Chandler Cunningham and Braden Behrens. Ottawa jumped ahead 4-2 after recording four runs on RBI singles from Adam Swanson, Jackson Mangold and Packston Miller in the top of the third inning.

Junior Brandyn Metzger helped Rochelle capitalize on an Ottawa error in the bottom of the third inning, plating Brode Metzger on an RBI groundout. Lucas Farabaugh smacked an RBI triple and Jace Veith followed with an RBI single to put the Pirates ahead 6-3 in the top of the fourth inning. But the Hubs wouldn’t go away, tallying three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to tie the score at 6-6.

After a scoreless fifth inning, Ottawa took an 8-6 lead in the top of the sixth inning, where Mangold slapped an RBI single and Jack Henson scored on an error. A fielder’s choice grounder and an RBI groundout in the top of the seventh inning led to two more Pirate runs, giving Ottawa a 10-6 advantage in the game.