Box Score MARIETTA, Ohio – Marietta College scored early and often en route to an 18-1 victory over Montclair State University (N.J.) in its home opener at Don Schaly Stadium Friday (March 22) afternoon. The win avenged a 2-0 loss to the Red Hawks in Florida.
The No. 4 ranked Etta Express (8-3 overall) jumped on top with four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Junior Dylan Papa, who tossed a complete game shutout against Marietta in Florida, surrendered base hits to the first four batters he faced.
Senior
Jordan Grilliot (Brookville/Northmont) led off with a base hit bunt followed by a single to left from classmate
Evan Brockmeier (Marietta/Marietta). Senior
Aaron Hopper (Wheelersburg/Wheelersburg) picked up two of his six RBIs on the day with a double to left center.
Junior
Josh Ungerbuehler (Cincinnati/Roger Bacon) plated Hopper with a double down the right field line. After a ground out moved Ungerbuehler to third, senior
Alex Toth (Painesville/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) doubled into the left field corner scoring Ungerbuehler and giving Marietta a 4-0 lead.
Ungerbuehler drove in two runs in the Pioneers' four-run second inning with a double to center field. A pair of Red Hawk errors in the inning cost Montclair two more runs.
Marietta added another unearned run in the third inning to take a 9-0 lead and chase Papa from the mound.
Papa (2-2) was tagged with the loss. He worked 2.2 innings and gave up nine runs, six earned, on nine hits. Papa walked one and struck out one.
Montclair State (5-4 overall) got on the board with a solo home run from senior center fielder Jose Carlos Padilla to lead off the sixth inning.
Marietta sophomore
Stephen Bascom (Cincinnati/Indian Hill) (3-1) pitched 7.0 strong innings to get the win. He scattered four hits and allowed the one run. Bascom walked three and struck out one.
The Pioneers sent 14 hitters to the plate in the seventh inning scoring nine runs and blowing the game wide open. Grilliot knocked in two runs with a double down the left field line, while Hopper plated three more runs with a double to right center.
Hopper, who set the Marietta College single season doubles record last year with 23, now has 52 career doubles and ranks fourth on Marietta's all-time list. Hopper trails Jay Coakley for third place on the list by one.
Freshmen
Mike Finlan (State College, Pa./State College) and
Jordan Carithers (Middlebury, Ind./Northridge) each pitched an inning of relief for the Pioneers. Finlan tossed the eighth inning and gave up two hits with a strikeout, while Carithers retired the Red Hawks in order in the ninth striking out a pair.
Hopper ended the day 3-for-4 with two doubles, six runs batted in and three runs scored. Ungerbuehler was 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles, three runs scored and three RBI.
Grilliot had two hits, including a double, and was hit by pitches twice. He scored four times and drove in two others. Toth was 2-for-4 with a double and Gregorich went 2-for-5 with two RBI.
Padilla and shortstop Cody Pace each had two hits for Montclair State.
Marietta hosts No. 20 ranked Huntingdon College (Ala.) Saturday (March 23) for a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader. Fans can catch the action live at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter.
