MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College Pioneers were as hot as the weather last weekend as they defeated Christopher Newport University, 7-2, to claim the Marietta Regional. The win earned the Pioneers the right to move on in the 2022 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship. On Monday (May 23), Marietta received the news that they would be a host site for the Super Regional championship and, shortly afterward, found out just who the Etta Express would be welcoming in for the weekend best-of-three series.
Marietta (41-5) will be battling Oswego State (33-11) for the Super Regional championship and to gain the right to travel Cedar Rapids, Iowa, home of this year's NCAA Division III National Championship. This is the first year that Marietta has qualified for the Super Regionals since the format was adopted in 2019. "Super Regionals is a first for us," said Marietta Head Coach
Brian Brewer. "Anytime you do something in this program for the first time, you're doing a lot. We are super excited and really looking forward to it."
Oswego State's road to the Super Regional was filled with some drama and excitement. The Lakers defeated Elizabethtown, 8-2, on Friday before falling to tournament host Arcadia, 10-7, on Saturday. Oswego State then defeated Husson, 12-10, and Arcadia, 14-11, on Sunday. After some weather delays, the Lakers came back on Monday and beat Arcadia in the winner-take-all game seven by the score of 4-1.
The Pioneers got a great regional tournament out of
Drew Holderbach (Fairfield, Ohio/Badin). The senior first baseman hit .463 (6-13) for the weekend, including two home runs and five runs batted in.
Trent Castle (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) hit .500 (5-10) with two doubles, a home run and 3 RBI.
It's always a good thing when you have the OAC Co-Players of the year in your lineup. Seniors
Damian Yenzi (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) and
Turner Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) are ready to help lead the Pioneers to Cedar Rapids. Yenzi is the team leader in doubles (28), home runs (12), hits (83), and RBI (65). Hill, the quintessential leadoff hitter, leads the team in average, on base percentage, and is always a threat to run with his team leading 30 stolen bases.
Marietta will have plenty of fresh arms to choose from as they enter this weekend.
Isaac Danford (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) pitched a gem last Saturday to put the Pioneers into Sunday's championship game. Danford worked seven innings, giving up two hits and one run while striking out eight.
Trent Valentine (Byesville, Ohio/Cambridge) will be a projected starter in game one this weekend. Valentine put together a 12-1 record in 14 starts as the Pioneers' number one starter in the rotation. The left hander pitched a total of 76.2 innings and tallied 62 strikeouts. Coming out of the bullpen, the Pioneers have last weekend's tournament MVP
Sam Mathews (Fairfield, Ohio/Badin) and his 13 saves and a 1.33 earned run average. Mathews shut the door in the opening round matchup with Kalamazoo, pitching four innings of shutout baseball to earn the save. He came in to relieve
Brett Carson (Ashville, Ohio/Teays Valley) in the regional championship on Sunday and worked 4.2 innings, only giving up a run and striking out five for the victory.
The Pioneers will be going up against an Oswego State team that likes to run but can produce large run totals and hit for power. The Lakers have a .330 team batting average, a team .521 slugging percentage, and have swiped over 130 bases on the season. Senior infielder Ryan Enos leads the team in most offensive categories. He has a .456 batting average with 10 home runs and 58 runs batted in. He has also hit 19 doubles and has stolen 25 bases, so speed is a major part of his game.
Senior infielder Paul Tammaro also provides production with a .453 batting average and 26 steals. Lukas Olson, a 5th year senior catcher, hits for power (10 home runs) and drives in runs (51 RBI). Senior infielder Kyle Lauria has driven in 53 runs and leads this speedy team with 31 stolen bases.
Oswego State will probably count on senior lefty Kieran Finnegan in game one. Finnegan has a 7-1 record in 72.0 innings pitched. He has a 3.00 ERA with 57 strikeouts on the season. Another option could be senior righty Anthony Van Fossen. He has a 5-1 record with 42 strikeouts in 65 innings pitched.
Complete tournament information can be found on the Super Regional website by clicking
HERE.
Fans can follow the Etta Express all season long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
