MARIETTA, Ohio — No. 1 ranked Marietta College put on an offensive display as the Etta Express easily swept an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader from Wilmington College Sunday (April 10) afternoon at Pioneer Park. Marietta downed the Quakers 17-5 in game one and took the second game by the score of 29-1 in seven innings.
The Pioneers have now won nine straight games and improved to 23-3 on the season. Marietta is 5-1 in the OAC. Wilmington falls to 12-13 overall and 1-5 in the OAC.
Marietta exploded for 46 runs on 48 base hits, including five home runs, two grand slams, four triples and seven doubles on the afternoon. In the sixth inning of game two, the first 11 Marietta batters had a base hit and the first 17 batters reached base via a hit or walk as Marietta plated 17 runs in the inning.
In the first game of the day,
Turner Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) got things rolling with a leadoff triple in the bottom of the first inning. He scored on a sac fly from
Damian Yenzi (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills).
Zach Boyd (Kent, Ohio/Tallmadge) stole home and
Brett Carson (Ashville, Ohio/Teays Valley) lined an RBI single up the middle giving Marietta a 3-0 lead in the second inning.
After allowing the Quakers to plate two runs in the third, Marietta took control of the game with four runs in the home half of the frame.
Trent Castle (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) provided the big blow with a three-run home run off the top of the wall in center field.
Six more runs in the fifth inning put the game out of reach. Marietta added one in the seventh and two more in the eighth.
Trent Valentine (Byesville, Ohio/Cambridge) (8-0) started on the mound and got the win throwing five innings and allowed two runs, one earned, on four hits. He walked two and struck out two.
Isaac Danford (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta),
Matt Kahn (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg),
Kail Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) and
Dawson Pierce (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Chagrin Falls) each pitched one inning. Hill was charged with three runs, one earned, on four hits.
Aaron Boster (3-3) started and took the loss. He gave up 11 runs, 10 earned, on nine hits. He walked two and struck out three. GlenAllen Anderson and Tre Nixon pitched the final four innings.
Castle and Carson each had three hits for the Pioneers, while Hill, Yenzi,
Drew Holderbach (Fairfield, Ohio/Badin), and
Alex Richter (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) had two hits apiece.
In the second game, 11 different Pioneers had two or more hits in the game. After a scoreless first inning, Marietta scored one in the second and then opened the game up with eight more in the third. A three-spot in the fifth was followed by the 17-run sixth inning.
Boyd led the attack going 4-for-5. Castle,
Cole Francis (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills) and
Matthew Busby (St. Clairsville, Ohio/St. Clairsville) had three histe ach, while Hill, Yenzi,
Ty Davis (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro), Holderbach,
Will Keefe (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg), Carson and Richter had two hits apiece.
Davis and Keefe smacked grand slams in the sixth inning, while
Alex Page (Monroe, Ohio/Monroe) hit a two-run home run in the rally.
Carson (4-1) started on the mound and got the win throwing five innings and giving up one run on two hits. He walked three and struck out four.
Griffin Malick (Akron, Ohio/Ellet) and
Sam Mathews (Fairfield, Ohio/Badin) each threw one shutout inning of relief.
Luke Chappie started on the mound for Wilmington and allowed one run on two hits in one inning of work. David Ernst (1-3) took the loss after giving up eight runs, three earned, on eight hits. In total, eight different Quakers toed the rubber in the second game.
Marietta travels to Muskingum University on Tuesday (April 12) for a 1:00 p.m. OAC doubleheader.
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.
