MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College, ranked No. 1 in the national poll, welcomed Saint Vincent College into Pioneer Park for their home opener on Saturday (March 19) afternoon and swept the Bearcats in convincing fashion. The Etta Express scored at least three runs in each inning of game one from the third inning on to roll to victory, 17-5. Marietta kept the offense flowing in game two and cruised to a 13-4 victory.
After the Pioneers scored on a wild pitch in the second inning, things began to heat up in the third inning of game one.
Drew Holderbach (Fairfield, Ohio/Badin) drove home
Damian Yenzi (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) and came around on
Zach Boyd's (Kent, Ohio/Tallmadge) RBI triple. Boyd would then score when
Brett Carson (Ashville, Ohio/Teays Valley) grounded out to first base, giving Marietta a 4-0 lead after three innings.
Saint Vincent fought back in the fourth inning with some hot hitting. Jordan Sabol tripled in a run and came home two batters later when TJ Dailey homered to right center field. Saint Vincent tacked on a go-ahead run when Ben Menarchek doubled home a run, giving the Bearcats a 5-4 lead. The lead would not last long, though, as Marietta would plate five runs in the bottom half of their inning.
Logan Vietmeier's (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) two-run double and Boyd's second RBI triple of the game broke the score open. Yenzi's bases-loaded double in the fifth put the game out of reach and the Pioneers claimed game one.
Gino Sabatine (Alliance, Ohio/West Branch) got the start for Marietta but was chased during the Bearcat five-run fourth.
Isaac Danford (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) (1-1) came on in relief and got Kyle Belmont to ground out into 4-6-3 double play, which ended up earning him his first victory of the season.
Sam Mathews (Fairfield, Ohio/Badin) and
Nick Kumor (Uniontown, Pa./Laurel Highlands) kept the Bearcats off the board to shut the door on game one. SVC's Casey Jones (1-1) was tagged with the loss, giving up eight runs on nine hits.
The Bearcats were able to strike first in game two as Julian Santana singled off of Marietta starter
Brett Carson (Ashville, Ohio/Teays Valley) to start the game. Santana would promptly steal second and then score on Dailey's RBI single.
Turner Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) would lead the Pioneer portion of the inning with a single. After he stole second, Hill would score on Yenzi's triple.
The floodgates were opened in the Pioneer fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth,
Drew Wilkinson (Medina, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) singled home
Trent Castle (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) to begin the inning and Vietmeier singled home Yenzi to finish. In the fifth,
Alex Richter's (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) two-run triple and Hill's two-run homer put the game out of reach.
Carson (3-0) pitched five strong innings, giving up only two runs and striking out seven. Danford came back for game two, working two innings and striking out four while giving up two earned runs. Jeremy Kruezweiser (0-1) pitched four innings for the Bearcats and gave up seven runs (only four earned) on nine hits.
The Etta Express will next be in action the Wednesday (March 23) at Pioneer Park as they take on La Roche University in a doubleheader. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 4 p.m.
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.
