SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Freshman
Austin Amburgey (Miamisburg, Ohio/Miamisburg) tied a Marietta College single game record with six hits leading the No. 19 ranked Etta Express to an 18-5 win over Wittenberg University Wednesday (March 29) evening. The Pioneers improve to 14-6 overall, while the Tigers fall to 11-6 on the season.
Amburgey is the sixth Pioneer in program history to record six hits in a single game. He is the first since Ryan Hanahan accomplished the feat against Denison University in 2015. The other Pioneers that hold the record include Ken Laveck (1975), John Schaly (1982), Monte Duncan (1985), and Chris Tekulve (2000).
Amburgey got the night started with a grand slam in the first inning. He then added singles in the third, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings. His hits in the sixth and seventh each drove in a run, while the final hit in the eighth plated two for a total of eight runs batted in.
In addition to Amburgey tying the single game hits record,
Nick Bonnizzio (Hudson, Ohio/Twinsburg) tied the program record for at bats in a game with seven. The Etta Express leadoff man tied a record held by numerous former Pioneers. Bonnizzio finished with four hits and drove in three runs.
Marietta collected 21 hits in the game as the Pioneers scored in six of their nine offensive innings. The Pioneers jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first and then added one in the fourth, five in the fifth and two more in the sixth inning. Marietta put the game out of reach with two more in the seventh and a three-spot in the eighth.
Brett Carson (Ashville, Ohio/Teays Valley) launched a two-run home run in the five-run fifth inning. Carson leads the Ohio Athletic Conference with six home runs this season. Carson collected three hits, including a double, home run, and three runs scored.
Alex Richter (Carmel, Ind./Carmel),
Ty Davis (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro),
Cole Rieman (West Chester, Ohio/Archbishop Moeller), and
Cole Yeager (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) each had two hits for the Pioneers.
Both teams used several pitchers in the nonconference game. Zach Martzetz started for Marietta and worked 2.0 innings giving up one run on one hit.
Jacob Rocky (Strongsville, Ohio/St. Ignatius) threw 1.0 inning and allowed one run on three hits,
Jared Bees (Pittsburgh, Pa./Eden Christian) threw 1.1 innings and allowed three runs on four hits.
Kail Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) (4-0) pitched 3.2 innings for the win. He allowed no runs on one hit with five strikeouts.
Forrest Havanis (Washington, Pa./Trinity) pitched the ninth inning without allowing a hit or run.
Wittenberg used seven pitchers in the game. Nate Floyd (2-1) started and took the loss. He allowed six runs on seven hits in 3.1 innings of work. Justin Maynard, Charlie Schafer, Tyler Defibaugh, Nick Cunningham, Justin Kreller and Kyle Mahon all threw in relief for the Tigers.
Marietta returns to OAC play this Saturday (April 1) when the Pioneers travel to Ohio Northern University for a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader.
Fans can follow all 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.
