MARIETTA, Ohio — Sophomore shortstop Tim Saunders (Alliance, Alliance) hit a walk-off home run on the first pitch of the ninth inning to give #13 Marietta College an 8-7 victory over visiting #19 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in the second game between the Mideast Regional rival Saturday (March 20) afternoon at Don Schaly Stadium. The Engineers captured game one 2-0. Both teams moved to 9-3 on the spring. [Game 1 Box Score] [Game 2 Box Score]

The aces of two of the Mideast Region's top teams took the hill in game one. Rose-Hulman senior Derek Eitel out dueled Marietta junior Mark Williams (Fayetteville, Perry) in the seven-inning affair, which saw the Engineers score the only runs of the game in the seventh to claim the 2-0 victory.

Eidel carried a perfect game into the fourth and Williams did the same into the fifth. Both teams showcased their defense and neither offense could scrape across a run until Kennan Long, who finished 2-for-3, hit a solo home run to right field with one out in the seventh. The Engineers added an insurance run when Kirk Thompson hit a two-out single and Troy Eveslage followed with a RBI double in the inning.

A two-out double by junior center fielder JJohn Snyder (Altoona, Pa., Altoona) and a walk to junior pinch hitter Britt Meador (Columbus, Worthington Kilbourne) had Marietta threatening in its final at-bat but a ground out ended the attempted rally and Rose-Hulman secured the win.

Rose-Hulman out hit Marietta 5-3 and neither team made an error in the game.

Eitel struck out eight and walked one in the complete game effort to improve to 4-0. Williams fell to 2-1 after walking one and fanning six.

In game two, Marietta jumped out to a 1-0 advantage when senior catcher Chris Beatty (Seven Fields, Pa., Hampton) laced a home run, his fourth of the season, to center with two outs in the first inning.

Rose-Hulman tied the game with a run on three hits in the second frame. Kreigh Williams picked up the RBI with a two-out double down the left field line.

The Etta Express wasted no time regaining the advantage. Sndyer led off the bottom of the second with a double. Freshman third baseman Braden Park (Oxford, Talawanda) drove in Snyder with a one-out double to center, and freshman left fielder Aaron Hopper (Wheelersburg, Wheelersburg) followed with a triple to left center to plate Park. Saunders kept the inning alive with a two-out walk, and freshman right fielder Jordan Grilliot (Brookville, Northmont) came through with a two-run single through the right side to drive in Hopper and Saunders and extend Marietta's advantage to 5-1 after two innings.

The Engineers answered with two runs in the top of the third. Rose-Hulman loaded the bases with one out and received a two-run single up the middle from Michael Kovacs to make the score 5-3 in favor of Marietta.

Rose-Hulman evened the score at 5-5 in the fifth. Kovacks drove in another run with a sacrifice fly, while Thompson tied the game with a double to right center.

The Engineers took their first lead of the game with a two-run seventh. Thompson singled home Long after he doubled with one out. Eveslage then executed a squeeze bunt to plate Rose-Hulman's seventh run of the game and extened its lead to 7-5.

Marietta fought back to knot the game at 9-9 by scoring a pair of runs in the eighth. The Pioneers loaded the bases with back-to-back one-out singles by Snyder and Meader to go along with a walk to Park. Snyder scored the first run on a balk, while junior pinch runner Jordan Thompson (Quaker City, Buckeye Trail) crossed with the tying run on a RBI ground out by Hopper.

Saunders sent the Don Schaly Stadium crowd home happy when he greated new Rose-Hulman pitcher Andrew Markowitz's with a first pitch, walk-off home run to left field to give the Etta Express the 8-7 victory.

Five different Pioneers had multiple hits in the night cap, in which Marietta out hit Rose-Hulman 13-12 and overcame three errors with the Engineers had one.

Snyder finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored, Grilliot and Hopper were both 2-for-4 with two RBI, while Park was 2-for-3 and Meader finished 2-for-4 in the victory.

Thompson led the Engineers' attack with a 3-for-5 performance, while Williams and Long both had a pair of hits in the loss.

Marietta sophomore starter Kyle Lindquist (Columbus, Worthington Kilbourne) allowed five runs on 10 hits while walking one and striking out six in 4 2/3 innings. Sophomore Brian Gasser (New Philadelphia, Indian Valley) earned the win after pitching the final 4 1/3 innings. Gasser (3-0) allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits and struck out three.

Rose-Hulman starter Jim Bob Schuler lasted just 1 2/3 innings. He was charged with five runs on five hits and walked one. Gannon Sadzeck scattered two unearned runs on seven hits over the next 5 2/3 innings. Jared Kronable retired two of the three batters he faced before giving way to Markowitz to start the ninth.

Marietta is back in action on Sunday (March 21) afternoon when the Pioneers take on the University of Dubuque in a single, nine-inning game at 1 p.m.WMOA-AM 1490 and WMRT-FM 88.3 will both carry the game locally. WMOA's broadcast can be heard online at http://wmoa1490.com, while WMRT's broadcast can be heard at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/stream.asx. Live statistics will also be available at http://www.marietta.edu/athletics/livestats/xlive.htm.