NEW CONCORD, Ohio — The #5 Marietta College baseball team fell from first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) following a doubleheader sweep by host Muskingum University Wednesday (April 21) afternoon. The Fighting Muskies, winners of five straight, won game one 7-1 and rallied to win game two 12-8. [Game 1 Box Score] [Game 2 Box Score]

The Etta Express (24-8, 8-4 OAC) entered the day atop the OAC standings but now finds itself trailing first place John Carroll University by two games as well as both Heidelberg University and Otterbein College by one game in the loss column. The Fighting Muskies (17-13, 6-4 OAC) remained in the middle of the race for one of the four OAC Tournament spots.

Three costly errors produced seven unearned runs and doomed the Pioneers in the opener. Muskingum, who out hit Marietta 9-6, did its damage in the first and seventh innings, scoring three runs in its first at-bat and four more in its final plate appearance.

Freshman right fielder #Jordan Grilliot (Brookville/Northmont)# supplied Marietta's only run with a solo home run to lead off the third frame. The home run was his first in the pin-stripes.

The Pioneers collected just six hits, all by different players, in the loss. Junior center fielder #John Snyder (Altoona, Pa./Altoona)# extended his hitting streak to 25 games with an infield single in the fifth. Tyler Hardcastle led the Muskies with three hits in four at-bats, while Erik Spitzer added a pair of singles in the win.

Sophomore #Austin Blaski (Pandora/Gilboa)# was handed the loss after giving up three unearned runs on six hits while walking two and striking out six in five innings. Blaski fell to 6-2 on the season. Issac Free shutdown the Pioneers' bats to earn the complete game victory, which improved his record to 2-3. Free allowed one run on six hits, overcame five walks and struck out four.

Marietta, who out hit Muskingum 16-14, led 6-3 after six innings in the nightcap. The Muskies, however, scored 10 of the final 12 runs to pull off the sweep.

The Pioneers took a 1-0 lead in the first. Sophomore shortstop #Tim Saunders (Alliance/Alliance)# hit a one-out triple and scored on a wild pitch. Muskingum came right back with two runs in the bottom of the second by way of a two-run home run from All-American Brock Whiteman. Marietta regained the one-run advantage with a two-run fourth. A RBI ground out from freshman third baseman #Braden Park (Oxford/Talawanda)# drove in junior first baseman #Casey Levens (Dayton/Centerville)#, who was hit by a pitch to start the frame. Sophomore second baseman #Kirby Becker (South Euclid/St. Ignatius)# then drove in junior left fielder #Britt Meador (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne)# with another RBI ground out. Meador had followed Levens' at-bat with a double.

Marietta's lead grew to 4-2 with a Levens RBI single in the fifth. In the top of the sixth, Park singled and scored on an error, while Grilliot singled and scored on a RBI single to left by Snyder. The hit pushed his hitting streak to 26 games, which ranks third on Marietta's all-time list. Snyder is now seven games shy of the school and OAC record of 33 straight games set by Dan Geudtner in 1999. The reigning OAC Hitter of the Week, has also now reached base in 31 straight games.

Muskingum's offense got back on track with a solo home run from Tyler Stevens in the bottom of the sixth and then exploded for four runs in the seventh and five in the eight to builds its advantage to 12-6. Becker drove in two runs for Marietta in the top of the ninth but that was as close as the Pioneers would get and Muskingum won 12-6.

Levens and Meador both finished 3-for-4, while Grilliot, Saunders, Park and Becker all had a pair of hits in the loss. In addition, senior catcher #Dan Jones (Lima/Shawnee)# stretched his hitting streak to 15 games with a 1-for-5 performance. Five different Muskie players had multiple hits, including Spitzer, who finished 3-for-5 with five RBI.

Sophomore #Brian Gasser (New Philadelphia/Indian Valley)# suffered the loss, his first in seven decisions, after he was charged with five runs (three earned) on five hits in three frames. Michael Congrove (3-2) earned the win in relief after allowing just two unearned runs on four hits over the final three innings.

Marietta remains on the road Saturday (April 24) afternoon when it visits first place John Carroll University for a key OAC doubleheader at 1 p.m. WMOA-AM 1490 will broadcast the twinbill both locally and online at http://wmoa1490.com. Live statistics can also be tracked at http://livestats.internetconsult.com/jcu/baseball/index.htm.