PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – The No. 10-ranked Marietta College baseball team split a pair of games Friday (March 14) at the Snowbird Classic. The Pioneers dropped a 2-1 decision to Farmingdale State College and then beat No. 11-ranked Wheaton College (Mass.) by the score of 19-5.
Two unearned runs propelled Farmingdale State (6-1 overall) over the Etta Express. The Rams scored a run in each of the first two innings and then made it stand up as Marietta (7-3 overall) managed just six hits in the game.
Farmingdale State got its leadoff runner on in both the first and second innings and then Pioneer errors allowed the runners into scoring position. RBI singles eventually plated the runs, including a squeeze bunt in the second inning.
Marietta starter
Mike Finlan (State College, Pa./State College) (0-1) pitched well enough to win, but was tagged with the loss. He allowed the two unearned runs on nine hits with a walk. Freshman
Ray Sowinski (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) retired the only batter he faced in the ninth inning.
FSC starter Kevin Cashman went 4.2 innings before turning the game over to the bullpen. Cashman scattered four hits, walked two and struck out three. Daniel Tierney (1-0) pitched one-third of an inning to get the win, while Alex Weingarten tossed 3.0 shutout innings for the save.
The Pioneers' lone run came in the sixth inning. First baseman
Mitch Geers (West Chester/Lakota East) was hit by a pitch to leadoff the inning. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and eventually scored on an errant pickoff throw.
Marietta broke out the bats against nationally ranked Wheaton College (6-2 overall). The Pioneers erupted for 19 runs on 17 hits as six different players had multiple hits in the game.
Designated hitter
Chris Winpigler (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) led the attack going 3-for-4 with a double and five runs batted in. Left fielder
Josh Ungerbuehler (Cincinnati/Roger Bacon) finished 3-for-3 with four runs scored.
Marietta scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back. The Etta Express scored 11 runs in the middle three innings and then added four insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth.
The four-run eighth inning was a little bizarre as the first four Pioneer batters were hit by pitches scoring a run. Marietta's fifth batter walked plating the second run and the third scored on a double play.
Freshman
Tommy Crowl (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day) (1-0) got his first collegiate win working 6.2 innings. He allowed five runs on 10 hits. Crowl struck out three. Fellow freshman
Zak Janus (Kent, Ohio/Roosevelt) tossed 2.1 innings of shutout relief.
Dylan Gracia (Middletown, R.I./Middletown),
Tim McCoy (Willoughby, Ohio/St. Ignatius) and
Ryan Hanahan (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) all went 2-for-4, while
Zach Bukiewicz (Minford/Lucasville Valley) was 2-for-5 in the game. Gracia, Geers and
Christian Demko (Xenia/Bellbrook) each scored three times.
Marietta wraps up its spring trip Saturday (March 15) with a 10:00 a.m. game against SUNY New Paltz. Fans can follow the Etta Express all season long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter.
