SALEM, Virginia — Marietta College, ranked No. 15 nationally, defeated Franklin and Marshall College by the score of 13-1 Saturday (March 4) afternoon. The game was stopped after seven innings due to the NCAA run rule.
Marietta improved to 4-3 on the season. The Diplomats fall to 1-7 overall.
Kail Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) (3-0) had another strong start on the mound for the Pioneers working 5.0 innings and allowing one unearned run on four hits. Hill walked two and struck out five.
Forrest Havanis (Washington, Pa./Trinity) worked the final 2.0 innings and gave up one hit and struck out three.
Marietta jumped on top with a pair of runs in the second inning.
Austin Amburgey (Miamisburg, Ohio/Miamisburg) reached on a one-out walk. Back-to-back singles from
Connor Gromen (Columbia Station, Ohio/Saint Ignatius) and
Matthew Busby (St. Clairsville, Ohio/St. Clairsville) loaded the bases.
Nick Bonnizzio (Hudson, Ohio/Twinsburg) worked a base on balls driving in Amburgey with the first run.
Alex Richter (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) knocked in Gromen with a ground out.
Franklin and Marshall got one run back in the top of the third. Tommy Denlin reached on an error and came around to score on a double to center field off the bat of Bobby Falese.
The Etta Express blew the game open with three runs in the fourth and seven more in the fifth inning. Bonnizzio picked up an RBI with a sac fly, while Richter and
Brett Carson (Ashville, Ohio/Teays Valley) had RBI doubles in the three-run fourth inning.
Marietta sent 10 batters to the plate in the fifth. Bonnizzio, Richter and Carson all drove in runs, but the big blow was a three-run double from
Ben Kaplin (Louisville, Ky./Ballard).
Trent Valentine (Byesville, Ohio/Cambridge) plated the final run of the frame with an RBI single.
Richter added a run-scoring triple in the sixth inning for the final 13-1 margin.
Busby led the Pioneers with three hits in four at bats. Richter had a double, triple and four RBI, while Kaplin finished with two hits and 3 RBI.
Marietta plays SUNY Brockport and Roanoke College on Sunday (March 5). The Pioneers will meet Brockport at 2:00 p.m. and then play Roanoke at 6:00 p.m.
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.
