ALLIANCE, Ohio — The Marietta College baseball team split an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) doubleheader at Mount Union College Thursday (April 9) afternoon. The Etta Express, ranked #15 in the latest ABCA poll and #19 in the most recent NCBWA/D3baseball.com poll, took the opener 6-4 before falling 19-11 in the nightcap.
Marietta moved to 15-7, while Mount Union improved to 16-6. Both teams remained tied atop the OAC standings with 6-2 records.
The Pioneers out hit the Purple Raiders 10-6 in game one, which was won by senior T.J. Knowlton (Greenwich/Mapleton) (Greenwich/Mapleton). Knowlton, who improved to 3-1, allowed four runs on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings. Senior Justin Merryman (New Philadelphia/New Philadelphia) (New Philadelphia) came in to get the final two outs and earn his fifth save of the spring.
Paul Mariotti (3-2) took the loss after giving up six runs (five earned) on 10 hits in five innings. He walked four and fanned three.
Merryman, who finished 2-for-4, led off the game with the double to left center. Sophomore Britt Meador (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) was hit by a pitch, and junior Chris Beatty (Seven Fields, Pa./Hampton) (Seven Fields, Pa./Hampton) walked to load the bases. Sophomore Jordan Thompson (Quaker City/Buckeye Trail) (Quaker City/Buckeye Trail) then came through with a two-run double through the left side to plate both Merryman and Meador. Freshman Tim Saunders (Alliance/Alliance) (Alliance) followed with a RBI bunt single. After junior Dan Jones (Lima/Shawnee) (Lima/Shawnee) drew a walk, senior Josh Spicer (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) reached on an error, allowing Thompson, the fourth run, to score.
Marietta added a run in the second. Senior Cameron Cimino (Boardman/Boardman) (Boardman), the reigning OAC Hitter of the Week, drilled a double down the right field line with one out. Sophomore John Snyder (Altoona, Pa./Altoona) (Altoona, Pa.) added a two-out double to drive in Cimino and give the Pioneers a 5-0 advantage.
The lead grew to six runs in the fifth. Jones drew a two-out walk. Spicer and Merryman then strung together back-to-back singles to drive in Jones.
A three-run home run from Cory Slaybaugh helped Mount Union climb back into the game in the sixth. The Purple Raiders then added another run in the seventh, but Merryman shut the door on the rally and Marietta won 6-4.
The Etta Express appeared to be well on its way to a key OAC sweep after a seven-run second inning in game two. Snyder began the frame with a walk. Junior Matt DeSico (Euclid/Euclid) (Euclid) followed with a double. Spicer then added another double to drive in Snyder. DeSico scored on an error to make it 2-0. Thompson had a two-out single to plate both Spicer and Jones. Cimino kept the inning alive with a walk and Beatty capped the scoring with a three-run home run, his fifth of the spring.
Mount Union, however, began its comeback with two runs in the fourth and then exploded for eight runs in the fifth and seven more in the sixth to take a commanding 17-7 lead.
Marietta scored a pair of runs in both the seventh and eighth innings, but Mount Union added a run in the bottom half of each frame en route to the 19-11 win. Merryman had a RBI single in the seventh, while Cribbins had a two-run double in the eighth.
Freshman Brain Gasser (New Philadelphia/Indian Valley) suffered his first loss of the year after allowing nine runs (four earned) on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. Gasser (4-1) walked two and fanned four. Sophomore Mark Williams (Fayetteville/Perry) (Fayetteville/Perry) replaced Gasser in the fifth and gave up five runs (two earned) on five hits in 2/3 of an inning. Junior Nate Eschbaugh (Marietta/Marietta) (Marietta) also worked just 2/3 of an inning in relief of Williams. Eschbaugh was charged with three unearned runs on four hits. Freshman Kyle Lindquist (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) and senior Chris Stewart (Dublin/Dublin Coffman) (Dublin/Coffman) both allowed one run in one inning of work to close out the game.
Mark Sabatino (3-0) earned the win after giving up seven runs (two earned) on seven hits in five innings.
Mount Union out hit Marietta 22-12 and both teams made three errors in the nightcap.
Thompson, Beatty, DeSico and Jones all had two hits in the loss. Matt Tracy led the Purple Raider attack with a 5-for-5 performance, while Nate McFarland added four hits in the win.
Marietta will look to remain in first place when the Pioneers play host to Wilmington College on Saturday (April 11) afternoon at Don Schaly Stadium. Saturday is the 11th annual Baseball Community Day. Events start at 11 a.m., including free T-shirts, hot dogs, Sno Cones, cotton candy and Pepsi products while supplies last. and first pitch is slated for 1 p.m. Fans can listen to the game on WMOA-AM 1490 and online at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/onlinebroadcasts.html. They can also track live stats at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/livestats/xlive.htm.
