MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College swept am Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader from Wilmington College Saturday (April 13) afternoon. Don Schaly Stadium was packed for the annual Community Day festivities sponsored by Qdoba and Burger King as the Pioneers posted 8-7 and 16-5 wins over the Quakers.
The Etta Express improves to 12-14 overall and 6-4 in the OAC. Wilmington falls to 6-21 on the season and 2-8 in conference games.
It took a little while for the Pioneer offense to get rolling, but once it did, Marietta scored the final six runs of the first game for the come from behind win and then blew the Quakers out in game two.
Wilmington jumped on top with two quick runs in the first inning and built a 7-2 lead. Pioneer starter
Gino Sabatine (Alliance, Ohio/West Branch) allowed five runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings of work. He walked one and struck out four.
Sophomore
Brenden Lacorato (Wayne, Mich./Plymouth) (1-0) notched his first career win with 4.1 innings of strong relief. Lacorato gave up two runs, one earned, on five hits with eight strikeouts.
Sam Mathews (Fairfield, Ohio/Badin) worked the ninth inning for his sixth save. Mathews allowed two hits and struck out one.
Marietta's first two runs came on an RBI double from
Zack Ward (Mt. Orab, Ohio/Williamsburg) in the second and a run scoring triple from
Mike Hale (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) in the fifth.
Seamus Kenneally (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon) accounted for both Pioneer runs in the sixth. He drove in
Drew Holderbach (Fairfield, Ohio/Badin) with an RBI single and then later scored on a wild pitch. Holderbach plated a run in the seventh with a single to right getting MC within two, 7-5.
Senior
Greg Peffley (Englewood, Ohio/Northmont) pinch hit to lead off the Marietta eighth inning and doubled down the left field line.
Damian Yenzi (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) followed with a towering blast way over the left field fence to tie the game with his first home run of the season.
After the Quakers changed pitchers,
Alex Page (Monroe, Ohio/Monroe) promptly doubled into the right center gap. A wild pitch moved Page to third and a single to center from Hale brought Page in with the go ahead run.
Jared Ferenchak started on the mound for the Quakers and threw 6.2 innings giving up five runs, four earned, on 10 hits. He walked four. Matt Oney retired one batter and allowed two runs on two hits. Lance Fleischman (2-6) took the loss after allowing one run on two hits in 1.0 inning of work.
Holderbach led the Pioneer offense going 4-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI. Yenzi had three hits including the home run. He scored twice and had two RBI. Hale also had three hits in the game with a triple and two RBI.
Marietta broke open the second game with eight runs in the fifth inning and five more in the sixth. The Etta Express collected 18 hits in the game as six Pioneers had multiple hits.
Drew Wilkinson (Medina, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) finished 4-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and four RBI. Yenzi and Page each had three hits. Yenzi scored three times and drove in another run. Page went 3-for-5 with a double, a run scored and two RBI. Hale, Kenneally, Hale and
Brady Cottom (Matthews, N.C./Butler) had two hits apiece.
Jared Strickler (Mansfield, Ohio/Lexington) (2-1) got the win in relief. He threw 4.0 innings and allowed two runs on five hits. Starter
John Stover (Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) pitched 3.0 innings and allowed three runs on five hits.
Isaac Danford (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) and Trent Cartle each worked 1.0 inning.
Jacob Griewahn (0-2) started and took the loss for the Quakers. Griewahn threw 4.0 innings and gave up six runs on five hits. Four other Quakers toed the rubber.
Marietta hits the road for a key OAC doubleheader at rival Muskingum University Tuesday (April 16) afternoon. First pitch is set for 1 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.
