No. 30 Etta Express splits OAC showdown with Heidelberg
Marietta wins game one, 3-2, falls in nightcap, 16-7

Apr. 28, 2007
MARIETTA, Ohio – The National Champion Marietta College baseball team knocked rival Heidelberg College out of first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference Saturday (Apr. 28) afternoon with a 3-2 victory in the opener. The Student Princes, however, out-slugged the Etta Express in the nightcap, 16-7, to salvage a split at Don Schaly Stadium.

The split moves the No. 30 Pioneers’ record to 25-9 overall and 11-5 in the OAC, while the Student Princes improve to 23-11, 10-4 in league play. Heidelberg is now a game behind first-place Otterbein, who swept Mount Union, 5-1 and 5-3, Saturday, while Marietta is two games back. Both Heidelberg and Otterbein have four games left in the league, while Marietta has just a doubleheader at home next Saturday (May 5) afternoon against Baldwin-Wallace.

Freshman Nate Eschbaugh (Marietta) faced off against David Paddock in the opener.

The Etta Express jumped out on top in the second inning. Sophomore Dom Pugliese (Coraopolis, Pa./West Allegheny) got the action going with a one-out single through the left side. Freshman Danny Jones (Lima/Shawnee) found an opening in the right side two batters later for the second single of the inning. A walk to freshman Kristian DeJeet (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) loaded the bases. Senior Ryan Belanger (Coldwater, Mich.) then came through with a two-run single up the middle, scoring Pugliese and Jones and giving Marietta a 2-0 lead.

Heidelberg responded with two runs of its own in the top of the third. The Student Princes strung together three straight hits with Jeremy Wentworth picking up a two-run single through the right side.

Marietta broke the 2-2 tie in the bottom of the third. Junior Tony Piconke (Clinton Twp., Mich./Clintondale) had an infield single with one out. Junior Tom Doty (Mentor), the next hitter, singled to left. Piconke raced to third, and Doty advanced to second on a fielding error. Freshman Mark Lakas (Westerville/Mason) then drove in Piconke with a ground out to make the score 3-2 in favor of the Etta Express.

The 3-2 lead held up the rest of the way, as Eschbaugh improved to 4-1 with the complete-game victory. The right-hander allowed just two runs on seven hits and struck out seven.

Paddock suffered the loss for Heidelberg, falling to 6-3. He was charged with three runs on eight hits, walked one and fanned five in six innings.

A trio of Pioneers collected two hits in the win; Belanger, Pugliese and Jones all went 2-for-3. Tyler Tocco also finished 2-for-3 for the Student Princes.

After a quiet first inning in the nightcap, Heidelberg exploded for six hits and took advantage of two Marietta errors to take a 6-0 lead. Freshman starter Tyler Penwell (Washington Court House) did not record an out in the second and left the game after allowing five runs on six hits.

The Student Princes were back at it again in the third, plating three runs off junior Derek Cummings (Tuscarawas/Indian Valley) to increase their lead to 11-0.

Marietta finally got on the board in the bottom of the third. Belanger led off with a single to right center, and senior Ryan Eschbaugh (Marietta) followed with a RBI triple to left center. Eschbaugh scored when sophomore Cameron Cimino (Boardman), the next hitter, grounded out to second base, making the score 11-2 after three frames.

The Pioneers inched closer with three runs in the fifth. Eschbaugh walked with one out to get things going. Cimino followed with a single through the right side. Piconke then sent a ground ball to shortstop and the attempt to get the Cimino at second failed when the ball was thrown away, loading the bases for senior Joe Litke (Windsor, Conn.). A Litke ground out scored Eschbaugh. Pugliese then delivered a two-run single up the middle to make the score 11-5. A Winters’ double and a walk to sophomore Justin Merryman (New Philadelphia) loaded the bases for freshman Chris Beatty (Seven Fields, Pa./Hampton). Heidelberg starter Andrew McFarland got out of the jam, however, with a strikeout.

The Student Princes used the momentum from McFarland’s strikeout to add five runs in the top of the sixth and extend their lead to 16-5.

The Pioneers showed their resiliency in their last at-bat. Litke singled to center field with one out. Winters then walked with two outs, and Lakas followed with pinch-hit single to drive in Litke. Beatty then reached on an error with Winters scoring on the play to make it 16-7. That is how it ended, however, as a fielder's choice with the bases loaded resulted in the final out of the game.

Heidelberg out-hit Marietta 17-11 in the game. The Pioneers, who left 10 men on base, had four errors and the Student Princes finished with two.

Belanger, Cimino and Winters collected two hits for Marietta, while two Heidelberg players had three hits and four more finished with two in the game.

McFarland, who earned the win to improve to 5-1, allowed seven runs (three earned) on 11 hits, walked five and struck out four in 6 2/3 innings. Justin Ocheltree came in to get the final out of the game. Penwell was handed the loss, falling to 1-3. In total, seven Pioneers took the hill in the game.