NEW CONCORD, Ohio — Marietta College, playing for the first time in nine days, swept an Ohio Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader from rival Muskingum University Wednesday (April 5) afternoon. The Pioneers won the first game 2-1 in 10 innings and then took the nitecap by a 9-4 margin.
The Etta Express improves to 8-9 overall and 3-1 in the OAC. Muskingum falls to 8-11 on the season and 1-3 in the OAC.
Marietta broke a scoreless tie with a run in the top of the ninth inning in game one.
Michael Barnabei (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central) reached on a two-out base on balls and quickly stole second base. After walking
Chris Petrucci (Farmington, W.Va./Notre Dame), Muskingum starter Brandon Bush turned the ball over to Kyle Schmitgen.
Greg Peffley (Englewood, Ohio/Northmont) greeted Schmitgen with a single to right that scored Barnabei with the first run of the game. Peffley was caught in a run down between first and second to end the inning.
Muskingum forced extra innings with a run in the home half of the ninth. Marc Ibarra drove in Austin Devore, who reached on a fielder's choice, with an RBI single.
The Pioneers used classic small ball to grab the win in the tenth inning.
Mike Hale (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) led off with a double to left.
Eric White (North Royalton, Ohio/North Royalton) sacrificed Hale to third and then
Connor Golden (South Charleston, W.Va./Charleston Catholic) followed with a sac fly to right field scoring Hale with the go ahead run.
The Muskies loaded the bases in the bottom of the tenth before
David Stover (Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) got Dallas Allen to ground out to end the game.
Tyler Nieberding (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) started on the mound for Marietta and threw 6.0 strong innings. The senior allowed no runs on just one hit. He walked one and struck out two. Stover (2-0) worked 4.0 innings of relief for the win. He allowed one run on seven hits with three walks and one strikeout.
Bush allowed one run on nine hits in 8.2 innings for the Muskies. He walked five and struck out five. Schmitgen (1-2) was tagged with the loss after allowing one run on two hits in 1.1 innings of relief.
Shane Fetsko (South Park, Pa./South Park) finished 3-for-4 with a double. Peffley, Hale and White all had two hits in the game for Marietta.
Junior
Scott Oberhelman (Washington Twp., N.J./Old Tappan) (2-1) worked 7.1 innings to get the win in game two. Oberhelman carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and didn't allow a run until surrendering a solo home run in the seventh. For the game, he allowed three runs on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
Kordell Antill (Woodsfield, Ohio/Monroe Central) tossed the final 1.2 innings. he allowed one run on three hits and walked one.
Marietta plated three runs in the first inning and never trailed in the game. Muskingum got within two runs, 6-4, heading into the ninth inning only to allow the Pioneers to score three in their final at bat.
Evan Hinds (1-4) started and took the loss for the Muskies. He threw 7.0 innings and allowed six runs, only three earned, on seven hits. Hinds walked one and struck out five. Patrick McGinty and Thomas Green each threw and inning of relief.
Peffley finished 2-for-5 with a double, home run and three RBI. Hale, Golden and
Seamus Kenneally (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon) also had two hits apiece for the Pioneers.
Marietta plays a non-conference game at the College of Wooster, ranked 7th nationally, on Thursday (April 6) at 4:00 p.m. Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
