MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College scored three runs in the first inning and then held on for a 4-1 win over Ithaca College Friday (Mar. 14) evening in the BSN Sports Invitational at Pioneer Park. The Pioneers improve to 8-4 overall, while Ithaca falls to 6-6 on the season.
The Pioneer offense staked starting pitcher to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and that was all the run support
Austin Ziance (Highland Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) would need. Ziance (3-1) scattered three hits and allowed just one run in 7.0 innings. He walked two and struck out 10.
Cooper Fiehrer (Hamilton, Ohio/Badin) recorded his third save of the season with 2.0 innings of shutout relief. He walked two and struck out three.
Cam Russell (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) led off the bottom of the first with a walk and was sacrificed into scoring position by
Jeremy Tonelli (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg). Following a pop up for the second out, Marietta strung together three straight two-out hits.
Cael Magill (Atco, N.J./King's Christian) drove in Russell with a double to right.
Diego DeCello (Hamilton, Ohio/Badin) doubled down the left field line plating Magill and
Shane Rothlisberger (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) knocked in DeCello with a single up the middle.
The Bombers lived up to their nickname in the top of the second. Andrew McDermott launched a solo home run over the wall in right-center cutting the Pioneer lead to 3-1. That would be all the scoring until the eighth inning.
Ithaca starter Colin Leyner (1-2) gave up three runs on seven hits in 6.0 innings. He walked two and struck out one. John Griffin allowed one hit, walked one and struck out one in two-thirds of an inning. Dan Kellachan allowed one run on one hit in 1.1 innings of work.
Marietta added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth.
Drew McKenna (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.
Thomson Babineau (Scituate, Mass./Calvary Chapel) sacrificed McKenna into scoring position. Russell followed with a single to left driving in McKenna for a 4-1 lead.
DeCello finished 3-for-3 with a double, a run scored and an RBI. Fiehrer had two hits, while Russell, Magill, and Rothlisberger each drove in a run.
Marietta hosts Case Western Reserve University Saturday (Mar. 15) at 5:30 p.m.
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