No. 30 Marietta baseball splits twinbill with host John Carroll
Etta Express win game one 3-1 and fall in game to 6-5

Apr. 21, 2007
UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio — The No. 30 and reigning National Champion Marietta College baseball team split an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) road doubleheader Saturday (Apr. 21) afternoon with host John Carroll University. The Pioneers won game one 3-1 but fell in the nightcap 6-5.

Sophomore T.J. Knowlton (Greenwich/Mapleton) picked up his fifth victory without a loss for Marietta, who is now 21-8 overall and 8-4 in the OAC. The right-hander allowed just one run on six hits, walked two and struck out one in the complete-game win. He was helped out defensively as the Etta Express turned four double plays.

Paul O'Donnell (2-3) took the loss for John Carroll, who is now 18-9, 8-5 in the OAC. O'Donnell surrendered three runs on eight hits, walked three and fanned two in four innings. Brandon Kurtz worked the final three innings, allowing one hit and striking out one.

Marietta opened the scoring in its first at-bat. Senior Ryan Belanger (Coldwater, Mich.) led off the game with a single. Sophomore Cameron Cimino (Boardman) followed a fly out with a double, moving Belanger to third. Senior Joe Litke (Windsor, Conn.) then walked to load the bases. After a strikeout, freshman Jeremy Reese (Massillon/Washington) drew a walk to force in Belanger and pick up the RBI, giving the Pioneers a 1-0 lead.

The advantage grew to two runs in the third, when Litke opened the frame with his second home run of the year.

Marietta scored again in the fourth. Once again, Belanger began the inning with a single. He scored from first base on a single to left by Tony Piconke (Clinton Twp., Mich./Clintondale).

The Blue Streaks scored their only run of the game in the sixth, when Sean McCarthy tripled with one out and crossed the plate on a ground out.

Senior Ryan Eschbaugh (Marietta) led all players with a 3-for-3 performance at the plate, while Belanger had two hits in the victory. Joe Bott went 2-for-3 in the loss for John Carroll.

In the nightcap, junior Tom Doty (Mentor) gave Marietta an early 4-0 lead, but John Carroll battled back to tie the game and eventually win 6-5 after a run in the bottom of the seventh.

A Doty two-out single drove in Piconke, who doubled with one out, to put the Etta Express up 1-0 after one inning. The designated hitter then drilled a three-run home run, his second of the spring, in the third.

John Carroll put together a triple and a single with one out in the bottom of the third against Pioneer sophomore starter Justin Merryman (New Philadelphia) to make the score 4-1. The Blue Streaks then added three runs on four hits in the fourth to tie the game at 4-4.

Marietta regained the lead, 5-4, in the fifth. Litke was hit by a pitch to start the frame and came around to score on a Kristian DeJeet (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) ground out.

John Carroll came right back with a run of its own in the inning, thanks to a pair off Pioneer errors. Two more errors led to a run in the seventh, and the Blue Streaks celebrated a 6-5 victory.

Merryman suffered the loss to fall to 4-3 on the season. The left-hander allowed six runs (five earned) on 10 hits and struck out four in six-plus innings. Freshman Nate Eschbaugh (Marietta) relieved Merryman after he hit the lead off man with no outs in the seventh. Back-to-back errors on sacrifice bunts loaded the bases for the Blue Streaks. Eschbaugh almost got out of the jam with a pop up and strike out but gave up the game-winning single to left center with two outs.

Marty Smith (2-0) got the win in relief after shutting down the Etta Express over the final two innings. Matt Fort started the game and allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits in five innings.

Piconke finished 3-for-4, while Doty was 2-for-4 with four RBI in the loss. Russell Toth was 3-for-4, while Michael Krainz and Sean McCarthy had two hits for for John Carroll.

Marietta is back in action Wednesday (Apr. 25) when it visits rival Muskingum for a 1 p.m. doubleheader. The games will be carried live by WMOA-AM 1490. The action can also be heard over the Internet at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/onlinebroadcasts.html.