No. 5 Wooster hands No. 11 Etta Express worst loss of the season

Apr. 19, 2005
MARIETTA, Ohio - Tonight's Marietta College versus the College of Wooster baseball contest at Pioneer Park may have started as a game of poker, with each team trying to not to show too much of its hand in what may potentially be a match-up in a Regional battle later this spring, but it ended as an offensive spectacle with Wooster coming out on top 16-8.

Wooster (24-6), ranked No. 5 in the nation and No. 1 in the Mideast Region, slugged out 20 hits and plated 16 runs en route to a eight-run victory. Marietta (21-6-1), ranked No. 11 in the country and No. 2 in the region, failed to slow down the explosive Wooster offense and, at the same time, could not match the Fighting Scots run-for-run.

The game, which was the first meeting between two of the top teams in the nation since 1999 and first regular season match-up since 1988, had at least one team score a run in every inning. Wooster posted two runs in the first, fifth and sixth and five runs in the fourth and eighth. Marietta scored single runs in the first, seventh and eighth, three in the second and two in the ninth.

The Fighting Scots first four hitters, Luke Ullman, Shaun Swearingen, Jake Frank and Kurt Kapferer each had three hits in the game. Frank had a game-high six RBI. Three other Wooster players had two hits in the win.

Chris Sidick (Cecil, PA/Canon McMillan), Ryan Eschbaugh (Marietta), Tony Piconke (Clinton Twp, MI/Clintondale) and Chris Hendricks (Little Hocking/Warren) all finished with two hits for Marietta, who totaled 12 as a team.

There were nine extra-base hits in the game, including eight doubles and a home run. The two teams combined to throw 10 pitchers, four by Wooster and six by Marietta, and commit five errors, two by the Fighting Scots and three by the Pioneers.

Walt Samson picked up the win to improve to 4-2 on the spring. Samson worked 2.6 innings, allowing one run on two hits. Reilly Enos started the ball game and gave up four runs on two hits in 3.0 innings.

Jeff Feigel (Severn, MD/Arundel) started for the Etta Express and got a no decision. He allowed two runs on six hits in 3.0 innings of work. Mike Eisenberg (Coral Gables, FL/Bullis), who entered with a minute ERA of 0.93, was tagged for five runs without retiring a batter to get the loss, his first in four decisions.

Derek Cummings (Tuscarawas), Bo Cooksey (Atwater/Waterloo), Brian Hanolt (East Palestine) and Bill Bakos (Framingham, MA) all saw action on the mound for the Pioneers. Bakos was the only one not to give up a run, as he worked a perfect ninth.

The Pioneers will return to OAC action tomorrow (Wednesday, Apr. 20), when they play host to Muskingum in a doubleheader at 4 p.m. Marietta is currently in second place in the OAC, one game behind Otterbein, who will come to town Saturday (Apr. 23) at 1 p.m.