FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Junior
Mitch McNabb (Grove City, Ohio/Bishop Ready) tossed 4.1 innings of shutout relief as No. 13 Marietta College downed No. 23 Methodist University 6-5 in 11 innings Saturday (Feb. 27) afternoon. Marietta improves to 2-1 on the season, while the Monarchs fall to 3-3.
The Etta Express jumped on top with four runs in the top of the second inning.
Brandon Papp (Uniontown, Ohio/Green) and
Connor Golden (South Charleston, W.Va./Charleston Catholic) led off with back-to-back singles. Batting with one out,
Tyler Ruhl (Fredericktown, Ohio/Fredericktown) doubled into the right-center gap scoring Papp.
A walk to
Chandler Palyas (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) loaded the bases for
Chris Petrucci (Farmington, W.Va./Notre Dame) who promptly cleared them with a triple in the gap.
Methodist answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Pete Wildeboer delivered a two-run triple and Stephen Nalls added an RBI single up the middle.
Marietta plated one in the fourth on a sac fly from Palyas to make it 5-3. But Methodist would even the score with two runs in the sixth chasing Marietta starter
Tyler Nieberding (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder).
Nieberding pitched 5.2 innings and allowed five runs on four hits. He walked four and struck out six. McNabb took over and walked the first two batters he faced before finding his groove. McNabb (1-0) scattered three hits and struck out six for the win.
After a scoreless tenth inning,
Tim McCoy (Willoughby, Ohio/St. Ignatius) started the 11th with a triple to the wall in right-center. A fly ball off the bat of Petrucci wasn't deep enough to score McCoy, but
Tyler Packanik (Plant City, Fla./Newsome) got the job done with a single to left driving in McCoy with the go ahead run.
Kordell Antill (Woodsfield, Ohio/Monroe Central) quickly squashed hopes of another comeback for the Monarchs. Antill took over on the mound for McNabb to start the bottom of the 11th and retired all three batters he faced for his first save of the season.
McCoy and Petrucci each had two hits in the game including a triple for the Express. Petrucci finished with three RBI.
Marietta wraps up play in the Methodist Diamond Invitational on Sunday (Feb. 28) with an 11:00 a.m. game against Neumann University. Fans can follow the Etta Express year around at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
