NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The Marietta College baseball team opened its season with a pair of losses to Top-10 ranked teams Saturday (March 2) afternoon. The Pioneers lost to No. 4 ranked Randolph-Macon, 8-3, and then fell to No. 7 Christopher Newport, 11-5.
Randolph-Macon (1-1) plated five runs in the bottom of the second inning to grab an early 6-0 lead. The big blow was a two-run home run off the bat of Matthew Blaise. Jeff Butler drove in two more with a single to right center.
Senior
Mike Hale (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) got the Pioneers on the board with a solo home run over the wall in the left center power alley in the fourth inning.
Jared Weiss (Uniontown, Ohio/Green) smacked an RBI single to centerfield in the fifth and
Damian Yenzi (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) drove in MC's final run with a double to left in the ninth.
Dalton Wiggins (Mineral Wells, W.Va./Parkersburg South) (0-1) started on the mound for Marietta and took the loss. He gave up six runs, four earned, on seven hits in 3.2 innings of work.
Brenden Lacorato (Wayne, Mich./Plymouth) threw 3.0 innings and allowed one run on one hit, while
Easton Berry (Ripley, W.Va./Ripley) worked the final 1.1 innings and surrendered one run on four hits.
Michael Zubovich (1-0) got the win for Randolph-Macon. He started and tossed 5.1 innings giving up two runs on three hits. Four other Yellowjackets toed the rubber for an inning each.
Hale finished 2-for-3 with a double, a home run and two runs scored. Yenzi and
Brady Cottom (Matthews, N.C./Butler) each had a double for the Pioneers.
It was a similar script against Christopher Newport (7-0). The Captains scored three runs in the first and four in the third for a 7-0 lead. The Etta Express plated all five of its runs in the fifth inning getting within two runs, 7-5.
Logan Vietmeier (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) started the Pioneers rally with a leadoff solo home run to leftfield. Cottom drove in MC's second run with a single to right field and
Jonathan Pingree (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) plated one with a sac fly. Hale scored the final run on the front end of a first and third double steal.
The Captains answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning and then added one in the sixth and one in the seventh for the 11-5 win.
Freshman
Justin Aviles (Brentwood, N.Y./Brentwood) (0-1) started and was tagged with the loss. Aviles worked 3.0 innings and was charged with seven runs on seven hits.
Quinn Hecker (Mason, Ohio/Mason) allowed two unearned runs and one hit in 1.2 innings, while
Sam Mathews (Fairfield, Ohio/Badin) tossed 2.1 innings and gave up two runs on five hits.
Isaac Danford (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) threw the final inning and struck out all three hitters he faced.
Vietmeier went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a home run. Yenzi finished 2-for-4 with a double and run scored.
Marietta is off until next Saturday (March 9) when the Pioneers play Scranton at 5 p.m. in the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Florida.
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.
