TIFFIN, Ohio — Marietta College waited 20 hours before going head-to-head with rival Otterbein College in the second game of the 2009 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Baseball Tournament Friday (May 8) afternoon on the campus of Heidelberg University. The game was originally scheduled for Thursday (May 7) but had to be pushed to Friday because of rain. Friday's start was then delayed three hours due to wet field conditions. Once play finally got started, both teams put on an offensive display. Unfortunately, the Etta Express came out on the wrong side of an 18-10 decision.

The second-seeded Cardinals (22-15) advanced to take on top-seeded Heidelberg Thursday afternoon in the winner's bracket game. The third-seeded Pioneers (27-14) will battle fourth-seeded John Carroll University in an elimination game Saturday (May 9) morning at 9:30 a.m.

The squads combined for 37 hits—17 for Marietta and 20 for Otterbein—in the game. Overall, 17 of the 18 starters collected at least one hit and 14 of those players had multiple-hit games.

The Pioneers plated a pair of runs in their first at-bat. Freshman Niko Stanislav (Olmsted Falls/Berea) (Olmsted Falls/Berea) led off with a walk. Junior Dan Jones (Lima/Shawnee) (Lima/Shawnee) and senior Cameron Cimino (Boardman/Boardman) (Boardman) loaded the bases with consecutive singles. Junior Chris Beatty (Seven Fields, Pa./Hampton) (Seven Fields, Pa./Hampton) then hit into a double play; Stanislav, however, scored to make it 1-0. Senior Brennan Cribbins (Middleburg Heights/Midpark) (Middleburg Heights/Midpark) followed with a RBI single up the middle to give the Etta Express a 2-0 lead.

Otterbein answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning to gain its first advantage of the game. The Cardinals extended their lead to 9-2 after scoring five runs with two outs in the third. Marietta's deficit grew to eight runs after Otterbein added its 10th run in the fourth.

The Cardinals' Jeremy Williams retired nine straight hitters before the Pioneers' bats got going again in the fifth. Junior Matt DeSico (Euclid/Euclid) (Euclid) opened the inning with a single to center. Freshman Tim Saunders (Alliance/Alliance) (Alliance) doubled down the left field line. Marietta then loaded the bases when sophomore John Snyder (Altoona, Pa./Altoona) (Altoona, Pa.) drew a pinch-hit walk. Stanislav delivered a double to center, which plated both DeSico and Saunders. A groundout from Jones drove in Snyder to cut Otterbein's lead to 10-5. Cimino then hit a single up the middle to score Stanislav. Beatty followed with a two-run home run to left center field, his 10th of the spring. A single by Cribbins kept the rally alive. Sophomore Casey Levens (Dayton/Centerville) (Dayton/Centerville) then drove in Cribbins with the seventh run of the inning to make it 10-9.

Otterbein stretched its lead back to four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Three straight hits from Stanislav, Cimino and Beatty helped Marietta score a run in the top of the sixth; the Cardinals got that run back in their half of the inning to push the score to 14-10. Otterbein capped the scoring in the seventh and extended the lead back to eight runs, 18-10.

Cimino finished with a game-high four hits, while Beatty had three hits and three RBI. Stanislav, Cribbins, Levens and DeSico all added two hits in the loss. A trio of Otterbein hitters had three hits, while five others finished with two.

Freshman starter Brian Gasser (New Philadelphia/Indian Valley) (New Philadelphia/Indian Valley) took the loss to fall to 5-3. He gave up nine runs on nine hits and struck out three in three innings. Senior Jason Baumler (Crownsville, Md./Old Mill) (Crownsville, Md./Old Mill), junior Nate Eschbaugh (Marietta/Marietta) (Marietta) and freshmen Bryce Goldbach (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Township) (Moon Township, Pa.), Kyle Lindquist (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) and Austin Blaski (Pandora/Gilboa) (Pandora/Gilboa) all worked in the game.

Alex Hayes earned the win after throwing four solid innings of relief. Hayes (5-2) scattered one run on seven hits and struck out six.

Fans can listen to all of Marietta's games on WMOA-AM 1490 and online at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/onlinebroadcasts.html. In addition, live stats are available at http://www.heidelberg.edu/statcrew/mbb/xlive.htm.