MC Baseball clinches berth into OAC Tournament with 3-2, 9-3 sweep of Mount Union
Etta Express hold one game lead over Otterbein for top seed with two games to play

May 5, 2005
MARIETTA, Ohio - Take care of business. That was the goal that the Etta Express took the field with Wednesday (May 4) in a doubleheader against Mount Union at Pioneer Park. Marietta entered the day with a slim one-game lead over idle Otterbein in the race for the top spot in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) standings. The first place finisher earns the right to host the upcoming Conference Tournament (May 12-14). The Pioneers were able to obtain their goal by sweeping the visiting Purple Raiders to stay in control of the OAC race. Marietta also guaranteed that it would be in the four-team tournament after posting 3-2 and 9-3 wins.

WIth the two wins, the Etta Express move to 27-8-1 overall and 12-4 in the OAC, while Mount Union falls to 15-18-1 overall and 6-10 in Conference play.

Junior Mike DeMark (Jennette, PA/Penn-Trafford) took the hill in game one, facing his former teammate, Tom Kerr. Both pitchers produced solid outings, but it was DeMark who was able to come out on top in the 3-2 victory.

Mount Union took an early 2-0 lead by scoring both runs in the top of the second inning. Mike Chuppa had a big two-out, two-run single up the middle in the frame.

Marietta responded with a pair of runs of its own in the bottom of the inning to tie the score. Junior Chris Hendricks (Little Hocking/Warren) started things off with a one-out single and scored on a RBI double by junior Lee Guerrera (Wolcott, CT). After Guerrera stole third, teammate Justin Steranka (Pittsburgh, PA/Mt. Lebanon) drove him home with a sacrifice fly.

Both Kerr and DeMark settled down to retire the next nine batters. The Pioneers played small ball to plate the go ahead run in the sixth. Senior Chris Sidick (Cecil, PA/Canon McMillan) led off with a walk. Sophomore Ryan Belanger (Coldwater, MI) bunted him to second and the Sidick stole third. Freshman Tony Piconke (Clinton Twp., MI/Clintondale) completed the perfect series of plays with a RBI ground out, giving MC a 3-2 lead.

The Purple Raiders were able to get two runners on in the top of the seventh, but could not get a run across and the Pioneers held on for the win.

DeMark got the win, a complete-game five-hitter. He struck out six and walked two en route to his eighth win without a loss this season. Kerr (1-3) allowed just four hits and fanned two in the loss.

Marietta made sure that game two was not another nail biter by scoring a run in the first and three more in the second to take a 4-0 lead. Mount Union's defense did not let its offense have a chance by committing five errors, including two in the second and three in the fifth, which resulted in six of the Pioneers' nine runs in the 9-3 win.

Sophomore Mike Eisenberg (Coral Gables, FL/Bullis) pitched a complete game five hitter to improve to 5-2 on the spring. He walked four and struck out eight in the victory. Dave Fleischer (3-2) suffered the loss, giving up five runs on five hits in 3.0 innings of work.

Sidick finished the nightcap 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Hendricks went 1-for-2 and crossed the plate three time in the victory, Marietta's fourth in row.

The Pioneers will close out the OAC regular season Saturday (May 7) when they visit John Carroll at 1 p.m. Marietta will also travel to Washington & Jefferson Tuesday (May 10) for a single nine-inning game at 3:05 p.m.