PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — In a battle of nationally ranked teams, No. 18 Webster University came from behind to beat No. 12 Marietta College Monday (March 9) afternoon in the Snowbird Classic. The Etta Express slips to 1-2 on the season, while Webster improves to 2-4 overall.
Charlie Gandolfi smacked an RBI single to left field scoring Mike Golich with the winning run in the top of the ninth inning for the Gorloks. Golich reached on a one-out double. Webster erased a 4-2 deficit with one run in each of the last three innings.
The Gorloks scored twice in the top of the third. Ale Bahnick had a run-scoring double and Blake Thomas plated a run with a sac fly. Marietta got one run back in the bottom half of the inning when
Brandon Papp (Uniontown/Green) walked, stole second and then scored from second on a wild pitch.
PetrucciMarietta took the lead with three runs in the sixth. Helped by a pair of Gorlok errors, the Etta Express got RBIs from
Tyler Packanik (Plant City, Fla./Newsome) and
Michael Barnabei (Pickerington/Pickerington Central).
Sophomore
Tyler Nieberding (Cincinnati/Elder) started on the mound for the Pioneers and turned in a quality start. He worked 6.1 innings and gave up three runs, two earned, on seven hits. Nieberding struck out six and didn't issue a walk.
Senior
Mike Fulton (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) (0-1) took the loss. Fulton allowed two runs on three hits in 2.0 innings of work. He walked three and struck out three. Freshman
Scott Oberhelman (Washington Twp., N.J./Old Tappan) made his collegiate debut and struck out one in 0.2 innings.
Isaac Behme tossed 5.1 innings for the Gorloks before giving way to the bullpen. He was charged with four runs, two earned, on seven hits. Behme walked two and struck out six. Dylan Smith (1-0) threw 2.2 shutout innings for the win, while Trey Tigart earned his first save pitching the ninth.
Freshman second baseman
Chris Petrucci (Farmington, W.Va./Notre Dame) went 4-for-4 for the Etta Express. Packanik finished with two hits including a double.
Gandolfi and Blake each had two hits for the Gorloks.
Marietta plays Salve Regina University (R.I.) Tuesday (March 10) at 10:00 a.m. 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 and Instagram.