MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College split an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader with No. 2 ranked Baldwin Wallace University Sunday (April 7) afternoon at Pioneer Park. Marietta smashed the Yellow Jackets 18-0 in game one. BW bounded back and took game two, 7-4. The Pioneers move to 11-12 overall and 3-3 in the OAC. BW is 20-4 overall and 5-1 in the OAC.
Marietta took an early lead in game one.
Trent Valentine (Byesville, Ohio/Cambridge) was hit by a pitch and moved to third base when the BW left fielder dropped a fly ball. Valentine would later score on a wild pitch.
The Pioneers broke the game open with six runs in the third.
Austin Amburgey (Miamisburg, Ohio/Miamisburg) plated the first run of the inning with an RBI double. Valentine and
Jeremy Tonelli (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) followed with RBI singles. Marietta scored a pair of runs on another BW error and executed a perfect first and third double steal for the sixth run of the inning.
Valentine would pick up RBIs in the fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth inning as Marietta pulled away from the Yellow Jackets. The Etta Express scored two in the fourth, four in the sixth, three in the seventh and two more in the eighth.
In addition to driving in five runs, Valentine (3-1) got the win on the mound, he started and pitched 5.2 innings scattering four hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
Forrest Havanis (Washington, Pa./Trinity) threw 2.1 innings and gave up one hit while striking out four.
Jared Bees (Pittsburgh, Pa./Eden Christian) walked one and struck out one in the ninth inning.
Vince Dolcemaschio (4-1) started and took the loss. He was charged with nine runs, eight earned, on nine hits with one walk and four strikeouts. Four other Yellow Jackets pitched in the game.
Amburgey,
Nick Bonnizzio (Hudson, Ohio/Twinsburg) and
Cole Rieman (West Chester, Ohio/Archbishop Moeller) each had three hits in the game. Amburgey had a double, while Rieman had a double and three RBI. Valentine finished 2-for-2 with three runs scored and five RBI.
Marietta took an early lead in game two plating one run in the first and two more in the second. Bonnizzio led off the first with a single up the middle. He moved to third on a double from Amburgey. Bonnizzio scored when Valentine grounded out.
Ben Kaplin (Louisville, Ky./Ballard) and Rieman had back-to-back singles in the second inning.
Cole Yeager (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) sacrificed bunted the runners to second and third and Bonnizzio drove them both in with a single through the right side of the infield for a 3-0 Pioneer lead.
The Yellow Jackets answered with two runs in each of the next three innings taking a 6-3 lead. Alex Richetr had an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to get the Pioneers within two runs. The Yellow Jackets added an insurance run in the eighth and held on for the 7-4 win.
Tyler Walker (5-0) started and worked 5.0 innings giving up three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts. Jake Heatherington earned his fifth save with 4.0 innings of relief. He allowed one run on five hits and struck out five.
Austin Ziance (Highland Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) (1-3) started and took the loss allowing four runs on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts.
Zach Marzetz (Blacklick, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln),
Jacob Rocky (Strongsville, Ohio/St. Ignatius),
Braden Shepherd (Huntington, W.Va./Huntington) and
Gabe Torres (El Paso, Texas/Bel Air) all threw in relief for the Pioneers.
Bonnizzio led the Marietta offense going 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Amburgey had two hits, including a double.
Marietta plays at Otterbein University on Wednesday (April 10). The doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1:00 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 X and Instagram.
