Marietta baseball closes regular season with split against Ohio Northern
Pioneers secure second seed and will take on third-seeded Otterbein in first round of OAC Tournament on Thursday

May 4, 2008
MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College baseball team secured the second seed in the upcoming Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament following a doubleheader split with visiting Ohio Northern University on Sunday (May 4) afternoon at Don Schaly Stadium. The Pioneers clinched the seed with a 6-3 win in the opener. The Polar Bears then out-slugged the Etta Express 12-7 in the nightcap.

Marietta heads into the OAC Tournament 21-18 and finishes league play 13-5. Ohio Northern closes the season 18-22 overall and 9-9 in the OAC. Heidelberg College won the right to host the four-team, double-elimination tournament by sweeping John Carroll University on Saturday. Otterbein will be the third seed and Mount Union holds the fourth seed. OAC Tournament action will begin on Thursday (May 8) in Tiffin with Marietta against Otterbein at 1 p.m. and then Heidelberg versus Mount Union at 4 p.m.

A two-run home run to right by junior Cameron Cimino (Boardman) helped Marietta jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first. Junior Justin Merryman (New Philadelphia) doubled and scored on the home run, Cimino’s fifth of the season. Ohio Northern came right back with two runs on three hits in the top of the second to tie the game at 2-2.

The Pioneers broke the game open with a four-run fifth. Sophomore Danny Jones (Lima/Shawnee) drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to give Marietta back the lead. Freshman Britt Meador (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) and senior Tony Piconke (Clinton Township, Mich./Clintondale) both singled home a run. The fourth run came by way of a double steal.

The Polar Bears closed the scoring with a single run in the seventh but that was as close as they would come and the Pioneers held on for the 6-3 victory.

Ohio Northern out-hit Marietta 8-5 in the opener and the Polar Bears made the only error. Greg Gibbons and Brandon Hubbard both had a pair of hits for ONU, while five different players accounted for Marietta’s hits.

Junior Chris Stewart (Dublin/Dublin Coffman) earned the win to improve to 6-2. He allowed just one run on for hits with three strikeouts in three innings of relief. Junior starter T.J. Knowlton (Greenwich/Mapleton) worked the first four frames and gave up two runs on four hits in the no decision. Knowlton walked two and fanned one. Mark Sankovich took the loss, falling to 8-3. He allowed six runs (three earned) on five hits and finished with one walk and five strikeouts in six innings.

Ohio Northern took a 1-0 lead in the nightcap with two singles and a double in the first. Marietta responded with two runs in the bottom of the opening frame to take its first lead of the game. The Etta Express strung together four straight hits; Cimino and Piconke both had RBI singles in the frame.

The Polar Bears tied the game with their second run in the second only for Marietta to reclaim the one-run advantage with a solo shot from freshman Tom DeAngelis (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) later in the inning, which came in just his second at-bat of the spring.

ONU then plated a pair in the third and another in the fourth to extend its advantage to 5-3. In the bottom of the fourth, the Pioneers loaded the bases and scored a run when Merryman singled to center. However, Meador rounded second base and found himself in a run-down. Sophomore Chris Beatty (Seven Fields, Pa./Hampton) then attempted to break for home only to be thrown out at the plate. A fly ball out followed, allowing ONU to maintain a 5-4 lead. 

The Etta Express took a 6-5 lead after it scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Junior Brennan Cribbins (Middleburg Heights/Midpark) had a sacrifice fly, while freshmen Casey Levens (Dayton/Centerville) scored on a throwing error. Ohio Northern tied the contest back up at 6-6 when Gibbons scored from second base on a fly out to deep left center field. Drew Robinson was credited with a sacrifice fly and RBI on the play.

Adam Grof broke the 6-6 deadlock with a two-run, bloop single to right with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth. Marietta loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the inning but could not plate a run. The Polar Bears made the Pioneers pay by adding six more runs in the top of the ninth to break the game open, 12-6. Marietta loaded the bases for the second straight inning but plated only one run to make the final score 12-7 in favor of Ohio Northern.

The Polar Bears out-hit the Pioneers 20-14 in the nightcap. Marietta, who made one error, left 15 runners on base, while Ohio Northern, who committed two errors, stranded 12.

Bret Katana finished 5-for-5 with four RBI to lead ONU. Gibbons, Robinson and Mike Hoelzel all added three hits in the win. Merryman paced Marietta’s offense with a 3-for-5 game to bring his season average up to a team-best .419. Meador, Levens, DeAngelis and Beatty all collected a pair of hits in the loss.

Junior starter Jason Baumler (Crownsville, Md./Old Mill) allowed five runs on 10 hits in four innings. Sophomore Nate Eschbaugh (Marietta) scattered one run on four hits with two strikeouts over the next two frames. Merryman, who took the loss to fall to 3-5, gave up six runs on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings. Sophomore Tyler Penwell (Washington Court House) closed the game by giving up a two-run triple before recording the final two outs of the ninth.

Drew Wieland worked the first 7 1/3 innings to get the win and improve to 5-5. He allowed six runs (four earned) on 12 hits with four walks and 10 strikeouts. Brian Hill got the final five outs to preserve the win.

All of Marietta's OAC Tournament games can be heard live locally in Marietta on WMOA-AM 1490 and over the Internet at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/onlinebroadcasts.html.