Piedmont rallies to top No. 9 Marietta for second straight day
Freshman Sean Mahley goes 2-for-4 with a home run in the loss

March 2, 2008
DEMOREST, Georgia — Host Piedmont College overcame a five-run deficit to top the No. 9 Marietta College baseball team Sunday (March 2) afternoon at Loudermilk Field. The victory improved the Lions’ record to 10-3, while the Pioneers finished the weekend 1-2.

The Pioneers took early control in the third frame. Tyler Penwell (Washington Court House) drew a one-out walk. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a throwing error. Sean Mahley (Cambridge) then got Marietta on the board with a RBI triple to left center field. A sacrifice fly by Justin Merryman (New Philadelphia) drove in Mahley with the second run of the inning and put the Etta Express up 2-0.

Marietta was back at it in the fourth using a combination of scoring techniques. Danny Jones (Lima/Shawnee) was hit-by-pitch to lead off the inning. Matt DeSico (Euclid) followed with a RBI double to left center, driving in Jones for the third run of the game. DeSico advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Brennan Cribbins (Middleburg Heights/Midpark). Penwell complete the small-ball with a sacrifice fly to drive in DeSico and extend the Pioneers’ lead to 4-0. Mahley then launched a full-count pitch over the right field fence for his first career home run and the third run of the frame.

Piedmont used a two-out rally to crack the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth. Justin Vorherr singled with two outs. Cole Spedale walked. Justin Oates then drove in Vorherr on a hit-and-run single to right center. Evan Nissley added to the rally with another RBI single to right field to make the score 5-2 in favor of Marietta after four innings of play.

The Lions threatened to pull closer in the bottom of the fifth, but Chris Stewart (Dublin/Coffman) got out of the jam with a strikeout, his fifth, to keep Marietta’s advantage at three. Stewart, who scattered two runs on eight hits and walked two in five innings, would not return in the sixth, as he was replaced by sophomore Nate Eschbaugh (Marietta).

Eschbaugh immediately got into a jam of his own in sixth, as he allowed a hit to three of the first four batters that he face and then walked in a run before limiting the damage by getting a pop out and a force out on a fielder’s choice. Piedmont, however, pulled within a pair of runs, 5-3.

The Lions scraped across another run in the seventh, as an infield single scored Spedale, who reached on a fielder’s choice earlier in the frame, to make the score 5-4 with two innings to play.

Junior Jason Baumler (Crownsville, Md./Old Mill) collected three straight outs in the eighth but could not do so in the ninth. Piedmont’s Matt Devito opened with a single. He was replaced by pinch runner Jared Moon, who advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a fielder’s choice. Vorherr was also safe on the play. A safety squeeze by Spedale brought in Moon with the tying run. Oates followed with a single to left, moving runners to first and third with one out. Baumler walked Corey Lindsey to load the bases for Nissley. Mahley replaced Baumler on the mound looking to send the game into extra innings. The left-hander, however, hit Nissley with the second pitch of the at-bat to force in the winning run and give Piedmont the 6-5 come-from-behind victory.

Tom Dimitroff (4-1) earned the win after allowing no runs on no hits over the final two innings. Baumler, who took the loss to fall to 0-1, was charged with two runs on two hits in 1 1/3 innings.

Three Lion hitters finished with three hits and the team clubbed out 16 hits in the game, which helped them overcome three errors. Marietta collected six hits and played errorless ball in the loss. Mahley finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI.

The Etta Express will return to action on Sunday (March 9) when it opens its spring trip with a stop in Memphis, Tenn. Marietta will take on Rhodes College in single, nine-inning game with first pitch slated for 12 p.m. The action can be heard live in Marietta on WMOA-AM 1490 and over the Internet at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/onlinebroadcasts.html.