No. 19 Marietta pulls off two Community Day comebacks against Baldwin-Wallace
Marietta erases 10-run deficit in game-two victory

Apr. 15, 2006
MARIETTA, Ohio – On its biggest day of the year to date, the No. 19 Marietta College baseball team treated a Community Day crowd to two thrilling victories over visiting Baldwin-Wallace College Saturday (Apr. 15) afternoon. The packed stadium of over 1,100 Pioneer faithful saw the Etta Express rally to victory in the seventh inning of both games; Marietta won game one 4-3 and game two 12-11.

With the victories, the team's 12th straight, Marietta improved to 20-5 overall and 6-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. It remains in a deadlock atop the Conference standings with Otterbein, who the Pioneers will visit on Saturday (Apr. 22). Marietta is now 20-2 since its opening weekend in Salisbury (Md.). Baldwin-Wallace fell to 15-14 overall and 3-7 in the OAC.

Junior Mike Eisenberg took the hill in front of a near sellout crowd for game one. The lanky right-hander struck out the side in order to begin the game.

The Pioneers’ offense did not wait long to take the lead, as junior Ryan Belanger and senior Chris Hendricks opened the frame with back-to-back singles. Belanger moved to third on the hit by Hendricks. Senior Jarrod Klausman delivered a sacrifice fly to plate Belanger and give Marietta a 1-0 lead.

The Yellow Jackets plated two runs to take a 2-1 lead in the third. Eisenberg got into trouble by walking two batters with two outs. A RBI single by Matt Wilson followed to provide the first run, while an error on a double steal attempt accounted for the second run.

Marietta tied the game, 2-2, with a run in the fourth. Senior Lee Guerrera tripled and scored on a ground out by junior Ryan Eschbaugh.

Baldwin-Wallace regained the lead, 3-2, in the sixth. Mike Farrell doubled and crossed the plate on a single by Shaun Slater.

The Pioneers took advantage of two lucky breaks to even the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth. Guerrera hit a ball that was lost in the sun and bounced on the Astroturf just inside the left foul line for a double. Guerrera then scored all of the way from second base on a wild pitch moments later.

Eisenberg retired Baldwin-Wallace in order in the seventh, setting the stage for the Pioneers’ offense to rally for the game-winning run. Pinch hitter Justin Yager drew a leadoff walk before being replace by sophomore pinch runner Devan Ward, who moved to second on a passed ball. Belanger then walked. Both runners advanced a base on a bunt single by Hendricks. Klausman, the next batter, delivered the game-winning hit with a single down the left field line to score Ward and give Marietta the 4-3 victory.

Eisenberg, who improved to 6-0, was terrific. He allowed two earned runs on four hits and struck out a career-high 14 Jackets in the complete-game victory. Clayton Kynkor (5-2) took the loss, giving up four runs on 11 hits in six-plus innings.

Three Pioneers — Hendricks (3-for-3), Klausman (3-for-4, two RBI) and Guerrera (3-for-3, two runs scored) — all had big games at the plate. Farrell finished with two hits for the Jackets in the loss.

Game two looked as if Baldwin-Wallace would run away to victory, as it led 11-1 after the top of the second inning. The Pioneer pitchers, however, did not let the Yellow Jackets scored another run over the final five innings and Marietta's hitters fought all the way back to win 12-11.

The Jackets roughed up Marietta freshman Ryan Dennick for seven runs on five hits in one-plus inning. Fellow freshman Scott Dunn did not fair much better, allowing four runs on four hits without recording an out. Freshman Alex Sedam came in and finally ended the second inning. Overall, B-W scored 11 runs on 10 hits in two frames.

Marietta did plate a run of its own in the first. Belanger was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and later scored on a RBI single by senior Justin Steranka.

The Pioneers added four runs in the second to make the score 11-5. Guerrera doubled and scored on a ball hit by Belanger, who reached on an error. Hendricks followed with a three-run home run to right field, his fourth of the year.

The Etta Express added another run in the fourth, when Hendricks walked and later scored on a single by Joe Litke.

It was not until the sixth, that Marietta pulled within striking distance by plating three more runs. Klausman tripled home Hendricks for the first run. Sophomore Tony Piconke then added a sacrifice fly to score Klausman. Pinch hitter Tom Doty also had a sacrifice fly to plate freshman designated hitter Brennan Cribbons, who got his first start of the year.

Jason Baumler, who had entered in the sixth, struck out two of the three B-W hitters in the seventh, giving MC one more shot to complete the remarkable comeback and it did just that.

Belanger was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. After Hendricks went down on strikes, Klausman singled to right, which knocked out the Jacket pitcher. Pinch hitter Tad Thomas greeted the new wing, Alex Walker, with a bunt single to load the bases. From there, Walker fell apart; he walked the next three hitters — Litke, Piconke and Guerrera — handing Marietta the 12-11 victory.

Baumler earned the win to improve to 4-1. He allowed just one hit in two innings. Sedam scattered four hits in three innings, while Andy Glazier worked a scoreless inning between Sedam and Baumler. Walker took the loss, his first of the year in three decisions.

B-W out hit MC 14-13 and both teams committed an error. Klausman added three more hits in the game to improve his batting average to a team-high .434. Belanger and Hendricks each scored three runs in the win. Wilson finished the nightcap 4-for-5 in the loss.

Marietta will return to action on Tuesday (Apr. 18), when it visits rival Muskingum for a 1 p.m. doubleheader. The action can be heard live on WMOA-AM 1490 and mariettaonline.com.