ABILENE, Texas — The #13 Marietta College baseball team improved to 4-1 with an 11-5 victory over host McMurry University Tuesday (March 10) night at Walt Driggers Field in day two of the Abilene Classic.
The four-time national champion Etta Express, who suffered a 4-2 loss to NCAA Division II #5 Abilene Christian earlier in the day, pounded out 13 hits and got a stellar pitching performance from freshman Brian Gasser (New Philadelphia/Indian Valley) (New Philadelphia/Indian Valley) in the victory.
Gasser, a right-hander, earned his first career win on Tuesday night after he scattered three runs on eight hits over seven innings. He finished with two walks and nine strikeouts.
Marietta aided its young pitcher by jumping ahead early. It sent nine batters to the plate and scored three runs on three hits in the top of the first inning. Sophomore John Snyder (Altoona, Pa./Altoona) (Altoona, Pa) led off the game with a walk. Senior Justin Merryman (New Philadelphia/New Philadelphia) (New Philadelphia) followed with a single through the right side, and then senior Cameron Cimino (Boardman/Boardman) (Boardman) walked to load the bases. Junior Chris Beatty (Seven Fields, Pa./Hampton) (Seven Fields, Pa//Hampton) singled home Snyder; Merryman was thrown out at home plate trying score on the play. Two batters later, senior Josh Spicer (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) delivered a RBI single to center, plating both Cimino and Beatty and giving the Pioneers a 3-0 advantage.
The Pioneers added a pair of runs in the second to extend the lead to 5-0. Snyder walked for the second straight at-bat and then came around to score on a triple off the left field fence by Cimino. Cimino later crossed the plate on an error off the bat of sophomore Casey Levens (Dayton/Centerville) (Dayton/Centerville).
McMurry cracked the scoreboard with three runs on three hits in the bottom of the third to cut the Marietta lead down to two runs, 5-3. Weston Franco had a key two-run double to left field in the frame.
The Etta Express answered with a run in the top of the fourth. Levens dropped a two-out double just inside the right field line and sophomore Britt Meador (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) drove him in with a single to right center.
In the fifth, Marietta loaded the bases by way of a junior Dan Jones (Lima/Shawnee) (Lima/Shawnee) walk and back-to-back base-hit bunts by freshmen Tim Saunders (Alliance/Alliance) (Alliance) and Snyder. Merryman then drove in Jones and Saunders with a double to left center field. Beatty followed with a RBI single to left center to plate Snyder with the third run of the inning. Merryman then scored on a RBI ground out by Levens to boost the advantage to 10-3.
The Pioneers struck again for a run in the top of the seventh to make it 11-3. Merryman led off with a walk and later scored on another RBI ground out by Levens.
Junior Tyler Penwell (Washington Court House/Washington Court House) (Washington Court House) relieved Gasser to start the eighth and allowed two runs in the ninth before shutting the door on an 11-5 Pioneer victory.
Beatty paced the offense with a 3-for-4 and three-RBI performance. Snyder added two hits and scored three runs, Merryman finished with a pair of hits, runs scored and RBI, while Levens contributed two hits and two runs scored.
Gerad Morris led McMurry's attack, which produced 10 hits, with 3-for-4 performance at the plate.
Marietta is back in action on Wednesday (March 11) afternoon when it closes out action at the Abilene Classic. The Pioneers will take on Texas-Dallas at McMurry at 2 p.m. and then battle host Hardin-Simmons (Texas) at 6 p.m.
Marietta baseball fans can once again follow all of the action during the 2009 season when John Wharff and Mark Bradley broadcast each game on WMOA-AM 1490. The games can also be heard online at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/onlinebroadcasts.html. Live stats of the Texas-Dallas game will be available at http://livestats.internetconsult.com/mcmurry/baseball/. In addition, live stats of the Hardin-Simmons game can be tracked at http://hsuathletics.com/links/wjmdiw.
