BEREA, Ohio — No. 12 ranked Marietta College defeated Ohio Northern University for the second time in as many days to earn the right to play John Carroll University for the 2023 Ohio Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament Championship. The Pioneers downed the Polar Bears, 7-1, Friday (May 12) afternoon to stay alive in the double elimination tournament.
Marietta (33-10 overall) and John Carroll (27-13) will face off on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. The Pioneers will need to defeat the Blue Streaks twice to win the crown. Ohio Northern finished their season with a 27-15 overall record.
"This was a good bounce back win. I still don't think we played great, but we're happy to be moving to Championship Saturday," Marietta head coach
Brian Brewer said. "Hopefully we get a good night's sleep tonight and come out full of energy and excitement tomorrow and enjoy the day."
Senior
Brett Carson (Ashville, Ohio/Teays Valley) (5-2) pitched 5.0 hitless innings of relief to earn the win. Carson took over to start the fifth inning and retired the first six hitters he faced. He finished with three walks and six strikeouts.
Gino Sabatine (Alliance, Ohio/West Branch) started on the mound for Marietta and allowed one unearned run on six hits in 3.2 innings. He walked one. Zach Marztetz retired the lone batter he faced in the fourth inning.
Marietta got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the second inning.
Ty Davis (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) led off with a double and came around to score on an RBI single from
Ben Kaplin (Louisville, Ky./Ballard). Davis would go on to have three doubles in the game tying the Marietta College single game record.
The Polar Bears tied the game with an unearned run in the third. Robbie Reed reached second base on an error to start the inning. A sacrifice bunt moved him to third where he later scored on a ground out.
Davis put the Etta Express back in front with an RBI double to left center scoring Carson who reached on a single.
Marietta earned some breathing room with a three-run fourth inning.
Cole Yeager (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) was hit by a pitch and singles from Kaplin and
Kail Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) loaded the bases.
Nick Bonnizzio (Hudson, Ohio/Twinsburg) lined a single through the left side of the infield scoring two.
Alex Richter (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) followed with an RBI single plating Hill for a 5-1 Pioneer lead.
Marzetz drove in a run in the fifth and Carson knocked in one with a single in the eighth.
Noah Truax (2-3) started and took the loss for Ohio Northern. Truax worked 4.0 innings and gave up five runs on eight hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Blake Peterson allowed two runs on five hits in 3.0 innings. Vaughn Duncan pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Polar Bears.
Davis led the Pioneer attack with his three doubles. Carson went 3-for-5, while Richter finished with two hits, including a triple.
Fans can follow all the Etta Express all year long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
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