MARIETTA, Ohio — The No. 4 ranked Marietta College Pioneers open the 2021 Ohio Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament on Thursday (May 20) at 4 p.m. against John Carroll University in the friendly confines of Don and Sue Schaly Field at Pioneer Park.
Marietta, 32-4 overall, won the OAC Regular Season Championship and the top seed in this week's conference tournament with a 30-3 OAC Record. As one of the top two seeds in the tournament, the Pioneers received a first-round bye.
John Carroll earned the sixth seed in the OAC Tournament after finishing the regular season with a 14-19-1 OAC record. The Blue Streaks are currently 18-20-1 on the season after upsetting No. 3 seed Ohio Northern University by the score of 8-3 in the opening round of the OAC Tournament.
The University of Mount Union, seeded second, hosts Heidelberg University in the second round on Thursday. The fifth seeded Student Princes defeated No. 4 seed Baldwin Wallace University by the score of 7-3 in the opening round.
The winners of Thursday's games will play a best-of-three series at the highest remaining seed on Friday and Saturday (May 21-22). Games one and two will be played on Friday starting at 1 p.m. The third game, if needed will start at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Marietta has its sights set on winning the program's 32nd OAC Tournament Championship. The Etta Express last won the tournament crown in 2016. The Blue Streaks claimed their lone OAC Tournament title in 2014.
The Pioneers enter the postseason with a .358 team batting average, 2.98 earned run average and .975 fielding percentage, all tops in the OAC. John Carroll is hitting .297 as a team with a 6.81 earned run average and .950 fielding percentage.
Marietta's lineup features two of the conference's top offensive producers in outfielder
Turner Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) and first baseman
Drew Holderbach (Fairfield, Ohio/Badin). Hill leads the OAC with a .471 batting average, 56 runs scored and 28 stolen bases. Holderbach is batting .404 and leads the conference with 48 runs batted in.
On the mound, the Pioneers have the top two pitchers in the league in
Sam Mathews (Fairfield, Ohio/Badin) and
Gino Sabatine (Alliance, Ohio/West Branch). Mathews leads the OAC with a 1.29 earned run average. He is tied for second in the conference with seven wins and five saves. Sabatine is tied for the league lead with eight wins and is second behind Mathews with a 1.99 ERA.
John Carroll is led by a trio of infielders. Second baseman Joe Olsavsky leads the Blue Streaks with a .393 batting average and 41 runs scored. First baseman Henry Haracz is hitting .375 with a team-leading 57 hits and 26 stolen bases, while third baseman Justin Hanley is batting .329 and leads the team with eight home runs and 43 runs batted in.
The Blue Streaks staff ace, Mitchell Midea, picked up the win against Ohio Northern in the first round. John Carroll will most likely look to either John Merrill or Matthew Aukerman to start against the Pioneers.
Merrill, a senior right-hander, is 4-4 with a 5.08 earned run average. He leads the Blue Streaks with 67.1 innings pitched. A sophomore right-hander, Aukerman is 2-3 with a 6.10 ERA.
Fans can follow the Etta Express 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.
