Southwest hands Marietta 5-4 loss with ninth-inning rally
Etta Express limited to four hits in first loss of the spring

March 13, 2007
ABILENE, Texas — A ninth-inning rally by the College of the Southwest, from Hobbs, New Mexico, gave the No. 7 Marietta College baseball team its first taste of defeat in 2007. The Mustangs, who led most of the day, answered a Pioneers' run in the eighth by scoring a pair of runs with two outs in the ninth to steal a 5-4 victory from the Etta Express. [Box Score]

The loss drops Marietta's record to 5-1, while Southwest improves to 6-11 on the spring.

The Mustangs took a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly in the second frame off freshman Dave Van Voorhees (Bethesda, Md./Bullis), who was making his second appearance and first start as a Pioneer this spring. Southwest then compiled five hits and added a pair of runs in the third inning to extend its lead to 3-0.

The score remained 3-0 until the Pioneers plated three runs in the top of the sixth. Senior Ryan Eschbaugh (Marietta) opened the inning with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Senior Ryan Belanger (Coldwater, Mich.) followed with a walk. Sophomore Don Pugliese (Coraopolis, Pa./West Allegheny) then laid down a sacrifice bunt but reached when the pithcer threw the ball away. Both Eshbaugh and Belanger scored on the play, while Pugliese made it to third. Senior Joe Litke (Windsor, Conn.) drove in Pugliese, the tying run, with a sacrifice fly two batters later.

Marietta took its first lead of the game in the top of the eighth, when Pugliese led off with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a fly out by junior Tony Piconke (Clinton, Mich./Clintondale) and scored on a Litke sacrifice fly to center field.

Pugliese moved from right field to the hill in the bottom of the ninth, looking to secure the win. Unfortunately, Southwest had back-to-back, two-out singles to plate two runs and earn the victory.

Van Voorhees allowed three runs on eight hits in five innings. He walked three and fanned one. Freshman Tyler Penwell (Washington Court House) followed with three scoreless innings of relief. He scattered three hits, walked one and struck out one. Pugliese (0-1) was charged with two runs on two hits with one walk in 2/3 of an inning.

The Pioneers managed just four hits in the game, two off the bat of Pugliese, who had singles in the first and eighth innings. The Mustangs finished with 13 hits and committed the lone error in the win.

The Etta Express return to action Wednesday (March 14), when its takes on Southwestern (Texas) at 1 p.m. and then Hardin-Simmons (Texas) at 4:30 p.m. It will be Marietta's final games at the Abilene Classic and both will be played at Hardin-Simmons. The action can be heard locally on WMOA-AM 1490 and online at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/onlinebroadcasts.html.