BEXLEY, Ohio — No. 1 ranked Marietta College scored early and often as the Pioneers cruised to a doubleheader sweep of Capital University Saturday (April 2) afternoon in Ohio Athletic Conference baseball action. The Etta Express crushed the Comets 24-1 in the first game and then completed the sweep with a 13-3 win in game two.
Marietta improves to 18-3 overall and 3-1 in the OAC. Capital falls to 5-15 on the season and 0-4 in conference games.
Game one was stopped after seven innings due to the NCAA run rule. The Pioneers scored in every inning in the lopsided victory. Four Pioneers homered in the game, including
Zach Boyd (Kent, Ohio/Tallmadge) who hit for the cycle.
Boyd singled in the first inning, hit a two-run home run in the second, doubled in the third inning, and completed the cycle with a triple in the seventh. He is the first Pioneer to hit for the cycle since Mike Hale did it against Mount Union in 2018.
Boyd finished 4-for-4 with a pair of walks. He reached base all six times he batted and scored each time he reach base.
Drew Holderbach (Fairfield, Ohio/Badin) and
Logan Vietmeier (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) each had three hits in the game. Holderbach had two doubles, a home run and five RBI. Vietmeier doubled and drove in three runs.
Damian Yenzi (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) was 2-for-2 with a home run, three RBI and six runs scored.
Brett Carson (Ashville, Ohio/Teays Valley) homered and knocked in three runs.
While the offense was piling up the runs,
Trent Valentine (Byesville, Ohio/Cambridge) (6-0) was turning in another stellar performance on the mound. Valentine threw 6.0 innings and allowed no runs on three hits with two walks and eight strikeouts.
Cole Yeager (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) worked the final 1.0 inning and allowed one run on three hits with two walks.
Connor Jones (0-1) started on the mound for the Comets and took the loss. He tossed 1.1 innings and gave up eight runs on six hits. Four other pitchers threw in the game for Capital.
The Pioneers scored seven runs in the second inning of game two and never looked back. The Pioneers scored seven runs in the second inning of game two and never looked back. Enzi delivered a two-run double and Vietmeier smacked a two-run home run in the frame.
Marietta added four more in the fourth.
Trent Castle (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) and
Alex Richter (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) each had RBI singles and a Comet error led to two more runs. Castle scored in the eighth inning on a double steal and
Ty Davis (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) drove in the final run with an RBI double in the ninth.
Gino Sabatine (Alliance, Ohio/West Branch) (4-1) started and got the win for the Pioneers. He threw 3.0 innings and gave up two runs on three hits. Sabatine walked three and struck out three.
Zach Marzetz (Blacklick, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln) and
Griffin Malick (Akron, Ohio/Ellet) each worked 3.0 innings.
Tuler Sickles (1-2) got the loss for Capital. He started and threw 2.2 innings giving up seven runs on six hits with four walks and one strikeout.
Vietmeier and Richter each had three hits in the second game. Vietmeier was 3-for-5 with a homerun, two runs scored and two RBI. Richter was 3-for-3 with one run scored and one RBI.
Marietta hosts No. 21 ranked Denison University Sunday (April 3). First pitch for the single non-conference game is set for 2 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.
