MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College split a baseball doubleheader with Capital University Tuesday (April 19) evening at Don Schaly Stadium. The Crusaders overpowered the Pioneers in the first game, 17-2, and the Pioneers bounced back to win the nitecap, 9-1. Marietta is now 19-12 overall and 9-3 in the OAC, while Capital moves to 17-11 on the season and 6-6 in league play.
Marietta grabbed an early lead in the first game scoring twice in the first inning.
Chris Petrucci (Farmington, W.Va./Notre Dame) led off with a single up the middle.
Greg Peffley (Englewood, Ohio/Northmont) singled to center moving Petrucci to third. The pair executed a perfect double steal with Petrucci scoring and Peffley advancing to second. Following a line out,
Mike Hale (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) singled up the middle driving in Peffley for a 2-0 Pioneer lead.
Marietta starter
Tyler Nieberding (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) (0-2) cruised through the first three innings. He ran into trouble in the fourth as the Crusaders tied the game with a pair of unearned runs. Tyler Cetnarowski doubled to the wall in left center scoring two.
Capital sent 12 batters to the plate in the fifth inning pushing seven runs across to take control of the game. The Crusaders were helped by two Pioneer errors in the inning.
While the Crusader bats were getting hot, Capital's starting pitcher Brendon Borkey (3-4) was in complete control on the mound. Borkey worked seven innings and allowed just two runs on four hits for the win. Casey Hamrick and Jared Bass each threw one inning of perfect relief as the Crusaders retired the final 17 Pioneers batters they faced.
Nieberding (0-2) took the loss. He threw 4 1/3 innings and gave up seven runs, five earned, on 11 hits. Mitch McNbb was charged with seven runs, only one earned, on seven hits in three innings of work, while
Austin Eaton (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) tossed the final 1 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on five hits.
The Etta Express scored in each of the first five innings of game two for an 8-1 lead.
Tim McCoy (Willoughby, Ohio/St. Ignatius) and
Eric White (North Royalton, Ohio/North Royalton) each drove in a run in the first inning, while
Connor Golden (South Charleston, W.Va./Charleston Catholic) and Peffley notched RBIs in the second.
Marietta manufactured a run in the third.
Mike Hale (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) led off with a double and was sacrificed to third on a bunt by White.
Tyler Packanik (Plant City, Fla./Newsome) followed with a groundout to short plating Hale.
Golden smacked his first career home run in the fourth inning. The sophomore lined the first pitch he saw over the right field fence for a 6-1 lead.
Packanik added an RBI double in the fifth and
Michael Barnabei (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central) lined a single up the middle scoring Packanik. Marietta's final run scored on a double off the bat of
Brandon Papp (Uniontown, Ohio/Green) in the seventh.
Christian Herstine (Beaver, Pa./Beaver Area) (6-2) started on the mound for Marietta and worked four innings to get the win. He allowed one run on six hits and struck out fve.
Tommy Crowl (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day) (3-3) three three innings of one-hit, shutout relief. He also struck out five.
Kordell Antill (Woodsfield, Ohio/Monroe Central) pitched the final two innings.
Tyler Spears (0-4) took the loss. He started and went 4 2/3 innings giving up eight runs on 10 hits. Jacob Sheaf allowed one run on five hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Papp finished 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Petrucci, Peffley, White, Barnabei and Golden each had two hits in the game.
Marietta travels to Wilmington College on Saturday (April 23) for a 1 p.m. OAC doubleheader.
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.
