MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College sophomore pitcher
Dalton Wiggins (Mineral Wells, W.Va./Parkersburg South) celebrated his birthday by shutting down No. 24 ranked Heidelberg University in the Pioneers' 3-1 win Sunday (March 31) afternoon at Don Schaly Stadium. The Student Princes salvaged a split with a 7-4 win in the second game.
Marietta is now 7-11 overall and 2-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Heidelberg moves to 14-5 overall and 3-1 in the OAC.
Wiggins (1-4) started and went 6.1 innings for his first win of the season. He scattered six hits and allowed just one run. Wiggins walked one and struck out eight.
Sam Mathews (Fairfield, Ohio/Badin) worked the final 2.2 innings for his fourth save. Mathews gave up one hit and struck out two.
The Pioneers scored all of their runs in the bottom of the second inning and then held on for the win.
Drew Holderbach (Fairfield, Ohio/Badin) got the offense rolling with a one-out, solo home run just inside the foul pole down the right field line. It was first career home run.
Following a strikeout,
Jonathan Pingree (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) singled to right and
Seamus Kenneally (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon) followed with an RBI doubled to the wall in centerfield scoring Pingree.
Drew Wilkinson (Medina, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) drove in Kenneally with a double down the right field line making it 3-0.
Trevor Adkins (2-3) started and took the loss for the Student Princes. He tossed 6.0 innings and gave up three runs on seven hits. Adkins walked three and struck out seven. Mason Metz worked the last 2.0 innings surrendering two hits with one walk and one strikeout.
Heidelberg finally got to Wiggins in the seventh inning. Keaton Mark led off with a double and P Fronk followed with a single up the middle scoring Mark with the Heidelberg's only run of the game.
Wilkinson finished 3-for-3 with a double and one RBI. Holderbach had a double, home run and an RBI, while
Alex Page (Monroe, Ohio/Monroe) notched two doubles.
Marietta got off to a good start in game two scoring three runs in the bottom of the first. The Pioneers took advantage of two Heidelberg errors in the frame. Following a strikeout to start the inning,
Brady Cottom (Matthews, N.C./Butler) and
Mike Hale (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) both reached on errors and eventually came around to score on wild pitches. Holderbach accounted for the third run with an RBI single.
Heidelberg finally got its offense going scoring a run in the third, three in the fourth and another in the fifth for a 5-3 lead. The Student Princes extended the lead to 7-3 before Marietta plated one run in the eighth inning for the 7-4 final score.
The Pioneers suffered from some control issues in the game two walking nine Heidelberg batters.
Gino Sabatine (Alliance, Ohio/West Branch) (2-1) started and took the loss. He threw 3.0 innings and was charged with four runs, three earned, on four hits. Sabatine walked four and struck out one.
John Stover (Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) took over and pitched 3.1 innings giving up one run on three hits. He walked two.
Easton Berry (Ripley, W.Va./Ripley) gave up one run and one hit with a walk in 0.1 innings, while
Luke Fisher (Louisville, Ky./Eastern) worked 1.1 innings and allowed one run on three hits with one strikeout.
Jared Strickler (Mansfield, Ohio/Lexington) threw the ninth and gave up one hit and a pair of walks.
After giving up three unearned runs in the first inning, Heidelberg starter Alex Sir Louis (3-1) settled down and threw 6.0 strong innings. He was charged with the three unearned runs on five hits. Sir Louis walked one and struck out six.
Brady Knizner threw 2.0 innings and allowed one run on one hit, while Joey Wenning recorded his fifth save with 1.0 inning of scoreless relief. Wenning walked one and gave up one hit.
Hale and Holderbach each had two hits in the game for the Pioneers.
Marietta travels to Maryland on Wednesday (April 3) for a single, nonconference game at Frostburg State University. First pitch is scheduled for 4 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.
