GREENSBORO, North Carolina — Senior Jacob Rocky (Strongsville, Ohio/St. Ignatius) threw seven shutout innings as Marietta College defeated No. 11 ranked Christopher Newport University, 9-1, Saturday (Feb. 22) afternoon at the D3 Showcase. The Pioneers move to 1-1 on the season, while CNU falls to 4-2 overall.

Rocky (1-0) started and blanked the Captains for 7.0 innings. He scattered five hits, walked two and struck out four. Cooper Fiehrer (Hamilton, Ohio/Badin) worked the final 2.0 innings and allowed one unearned run on two hits. He walked two and struck out one.

Marietta got on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Diego DeCello (Hamilton, Ohio/Badin) reached on a one-out double and came around to score of a single through the left side of the infield from Cael Magill (Atco, N.J./King's Christian).

Magill made it 2-0 in the bottom of the third when he scored on a single from Drew McKenna (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston). Magill reached on a fielder's choice and moved to second on a groundout. McKenna singled to left scoring Magill.

The Pioneers plated four runs in the fourth inning to take a 6-0 lead. DeCello reached on a two-out single and stole second. Will Loftus (Westfield, Ind./Brebeuf Jesuit) singled through the right side of the infield scoring DeCello. Magill was hit by a pitch and then Shane Rothlisberger (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) cleared the bases with a home run to left.

Loftus added an RBI single in the fifth and Nick Bonnizzio (Hudson, Ohio/Twinsburg) plated a run in the sixth with a sac fly pushing the lead to 8-0.

Fiehrer took over on the mound to start the eighth. Sam Benedict reached on an error to start the inning. Josh Reinhold doubled to center field moving Benedict to third. Following a pop up and a walk to load the bases, Ayden Stuffel plated Benedict with a sac fly to left.

Marietta got the run back in the bottom of the frame. Cam Russell (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) led off with a single and moved into scoring position when Thomson Babineau (Scituate, Mass./Calvary Chapel) was hit by a pitch. A sac bunt from Evan Wilson (Charleston, W.Va./Capital) moved the runners to second and third. Bonnizzio followed with an RBI single scoring Russell.

Chase Hustead (0-1) started on the mound for CNU and took the loss. He threw 4.0 innings and gave up six runs, all earned, on nine hits. He walked two and struck out two. Marcus Dux and Charlie Gunn each pitched 2.0 innings of relief for the Captains.

Loftus went 3-for-5 with two runs batted in for the Pioneers. Bonnizzio, DeCello, Magill, and Russell each had two hits in the game, while Rothlisberger drove in three runs with his home run.

Marietta wraps up play in the D3 Showcase against No. 9 ranked University of Lynchburg on Sunday (Feb. 23) at 11:00 a.m.

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