ADA, Ohio —Ohio Northern University played the role of spoiler to perfection Saturday (May 7) afternoon by sweeping an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader from Marietta College. The Polar Bears won game one, 7-3, and blanked the Pioneers in the second game, 4-0.
The losses, coupled with an Otterbein sweep of Muskingum, cost Marietta the No. 1 seed in next week's OAC Tournament. The Cardinals secured the top spot and will host the tournament in Westerville. The Pioneers slip to 24-15 on the season and finish with a 13-5 OAC record.
In the first game Marietta grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning when
Mike Hale (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) smacked a two-out single to right field scoring
Tim McCoy (Willoughby, Ohio/St. Ignatius). McCoy reached on a single to center, stole second and then scored on Hale's base hit.
The Polar Bears (21-16 overall, 9-9 OAC) evened the game with a run in the bottom of the frame and would go on to build a 7-1 lead. Ohio Northern scored two in the third, three in the fourth and added one more in the sixth.
Three Pioneer errors resulted in five of those runs being unearned.
Christian Herstine (Beaver, Pa./Beaver Area) (8-3) started and took the loss. He worked six innings and allowed seven runs, two earned, on nine hits. Herstine walked one and struck out eight.
Mitch McNabb (Grove City, Ohio/Bishop Ready) and
Scott Oberhelman (Washington Twp., N.J./Old Tappan) each threw an inning of shutout relief.
McCoy, who finished 3-for-4, ripped a two-out RBI double in the seventh scoring
Chris Petrucci (Farmington, W.Va./Notre Dame) who was hit by a pitch. ONU's only error of the day allowed McCoy to come around and score an unearned run.
Ben Eckert (2-1) threw seven strong innings for the win. He gave up three runs on seven hits and struck out four. Devin Carr allowed one hit in two innings of relief.
The nightcap was a classic duel between two left-handed pitchers. Marietta's
Tommy Crowl (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day) and Ohio Northern's Ben Glischinski each tossed six shutout innings before turning things over to the bullpen. Crowl allowed one hit, one walk and struck out seven. Glischinski gave up four hits, one walk and whiffed 10 Pioneers.
ONU broke the scoreless tie with two runs in the bottom of seventh off of Pioneer closer
David Stover (Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson). Dan Barna led off with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Jordan Bostater followed with an RBI double down the right field line plating Barna.
Austin Peterson pinch ran for Bostater and moved over to third when Nick Eltzroth flied out to right. With the infield pulled in to cut the run down at the plate, Luke Klinehoffer grounded out to first for the second out. But Clay Small delivered a two-out double in the right-center gap scoring Peterson for a 2-0 lead.
Two Pioneer errors allowed the Polar Bears to score a pair of unearned runs in the eighth inning and push the margin to 4-0.
Jason Burkett (1-0) got the win in relief of Glischinski. Burket threw one innings and allowed two hits. Zach Maier worked the final two innings for the save.
Stover (6-1) was tagged with his first loss of the year. He gave up four runs, two earned, on three hits in one inning of work,
Kordell Antill (Woodsfield, Ohio/Monroe Central) allowed one hit in an inning on the mound.
Eric White (North Royalton, Ohio/North Royalton) was the lone Pioneer with two hits in the game. White finished with a pair of singles.
Marietta closes out the regular season with a single nine-inning game at Penn State-Behrend on Sunday (May 8). First pitch is set for 1 p.m. 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.
