Staff photo / Dan Hiner. Cardinal Mooney’s Kaden Reese swings at a pitch during the third inning of a game against Springfield on Wednesday at Springfield High School.

NEW MIDDLETOWN — It took one trip through the batting order, but the Cardinal Mooney baseball team figured out Springfield pitcher Jackson Ensley.

The Cardinals plated four runs in the third inning, keeping them undefeated following a 5-1 win over the Tigers on Wednesday at Springfield High School.

“(The Tigers) made some plays today … challenged us,” Cardinal Mooney head coach Ed Reese said.

Ben Oddis and Taco Verocco both singled to put a runner in scoring position in the second inning for the Cardinals (7-0), and Jacob Gugliotta walked to load the bases with one out. But Ensley got back-to-back groundouts to work out of the jam.

The Tigers had a chance at the first run in the bottom of the inning.

Alec Fusco drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. An error allowed Ben Catlos to reach and Ensley walked to load the bases for the Tigers. However, Ryan Reese got two strikeouts and a flyout to end the inning.

Andrew Bushey led off the third with a double into the right-field corner. Then Kaden Reese drove in Bushey with an RBI single to right and Ford Stacy added another run on an RBI triple to right. An Oddis RBI groundout to shortstop plated Stacey and pushed the Mooney lead to 3-0.

Verocco added an RBI single to center field to close the Cardinals’ scoring in the third.

“(Springfield’s) guy was throwing strikes, they were making plays,” Reese said. “We were putting the ball in play for the most part.”

The Tigers got on the board in the home half of the third.

Jason Reinke and Greyson Seifert walked and Cooper Ensley was hit by a pitch to load the bases again for Springfield with nobody out. Reinke scored when Fusco hit into a 4-6-3 doubleplay, but the Tigers couldn’t add to it.

“We’re young, still inexperienced. We had opportunities and didn’t take advantage when we had the opportunities,” Springfield head coach Terry Dobson said.

Oddis reached again on a leadoff single in the fourth, and runners ended up at second and third when Verocco reached on a throwing error. Todd Jones made it a 5-1 Cardinal lead with an RBI single, scoring Verocco, that bounced off the diving shortstop and into left field.

Jackson Ensley took the loss for the Tigers (6-3). He allowed four runs on eight hits and three walks, striking out a pair in four innings of work.

Ryan Reese was credited with the win after giving up one run on five walks and striking out four in three hitless innings. Additionally, the Tigers couldn’t hit Bushey, who fanned seven and surrendered one hit in four innings of relief.

“Wasn’t too happy with the walks, but Ryan, when it’s 3-0, he’s gonna fight to come back and give us a chance,” Ed Reese said. “We tell our pitchers, ‘You don’t have to win the game. Give us a chance to compete and win.’ That’s what Ryan did, and Bushey came in and threw pretty well.”

For Springfield, Wednesday’s game was their first loss in Ohio. The Tigers dropped a pair of games while on their spring break trip at the beginning of the month.

Meanwhile, Mooney has remained perfect despite playing a challenging schedule so far. The Cardinals have only played two teams with non-winning records, Columbiana (5-5) and Norwayne (3-4).

They also have a 6-1 victory over Bishop Waterson and a 9-2 win against Waynedale, who knocked the Cardinals out of the playoffs in the regional semifinals last year.

“Started off the season pretty good. We’re happy with that,” Ed Reese said. “Think we’re getting better each game, just (taking it) one game at a time. And focus on, as we get through the season, getting better at the little things.”