No. 30 Etta Express falls twice to host No. 1 Fighting Scots
Wooster defeats Marietta 14-0 and 7-3

Apr. 29, 2007
WOOSTER, Ohio – The National Champion and No. 30 Marietta College baseball team wrapped up a six-games-in-three-days stretch with a doubleheader at No. 1 Wooster Sunday (Apr. 29) afternoon at Art Murray Stadium. The Fighting Scots, who were off Saturday and had one game on Friday, took advantage of a depleted Pioneer pitching staff to sweep the twinbill with 14-0 and 7-3 victories.

With the two losses, Marietta, who has now dropped three straight for the first time all season, falls to 24-11. Wooster improves to 35-3 on the year.

Saturday, the 30th and 31st meeting in the series, marked the first time that the two teams met in Wooster in two decades. Wooster dominated the opener, scoring in every inning en route to the 14-0 victory.

The Fighting Scots struck for three runs in the first, one in the second and two in the third off Marietta freshman Brian Hesson (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial), who made his first start and took the loss to fall to 1-1 on the year. Hesson allowed six runs on six hits in 2 1/3 innings.

Fellow freshman Sean Rainey (Granville) relieved Hesson with one out in the third and got out of the inning by inducing a double play. Rainey did not fair as well the rest of his afternoon, as he allowed two runs in the fourth and four in the fifth, before giving way to freshman Evan Merten (North Canton/Hoover). In all, Rainey was charged with six runs (five earned) on five hits in two innings. Merten gave up two runs on two hits over the final two 2/3 innings.

Adam Samson (8-0), meanwhile, limited the Pioneers’ bats to just three hits; two of those came in the first inning. Samson struck out two and walked two in the victory.

Seniors Ryan Belanger (Coldwater, Mich.) and Ryan Eschbaugh (Marietta) as well as freshman Chris Beatty (Seven Fields, Pa./Hampton) finished 1-for-2 in the game.

Matthew Johnson (3-for-4), Sheldon Steiner (2-for-3) and John Quimby (1-for-3) all hit home runs for Wooster in the victory.

In game two, freshman Jeremy Reese (Massillon/Washington) went 3-for-3 and hit his first career home run, but the Fighting Scots secured the sweep with a 7-3 victory.

Marietta Freshman Dave Van Voorhees (Bethesda, Md./Bullis) was given the tough task of slowing down Wooster’s offense in the nightcap. Despite allowing three runs in the first, Van Voorhees, who took the loss to fall to 0-1, settled down from there. He ended the day allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.

Sophomore Jason Baumler (Crownsville, Md./Old Mill) and freshman Tyler Penwell (Washington Court House) both gave up one run on two hits in 2/3 of an inning to finish the game.

Anthony Trapuzzano picked up Wooster’s second complete game victory of the afternoon. Trapuzzano, who increased his record to 8-0, allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits, walked one and fanned three.

The Fighting Scots jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning. Marietta got on the board with a Reese home run to right field in the third. The Pioneers pulled within a run, 3-2, after scoring another run in the fifth. Freshman Danny Jones (Lima/Shawnee) doubled with one out and scored on a Reese RBI single.

Wooster came back with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to increase its lead to 5-2. Marietta scored another run in the sixth, only for Wooster to answer with two more in the bottom of the inning to complete the scoring. Sophomore Cameron Cimino (Boardman) reached on a two-base error to lead off the sixth and scored when junior Tom Doty (Mentor) singled down the right field line.

The Fighting Scots out-hit the Pioneers 10 to six in the game. Marietta had three errors, while Wooster had one.

The Etta Express has two non conference games before closing out the OAC regular season Saturday (May 5) at home against Baldwin-Wallace at 12 p.m. on Alumni Day. Marietta will visit Wittenberg Tuesday (May 1) and Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) Wednesday (May 2). Both are junior varsity/varsity doubleheaders. The varsity games are slated for 7 p.m. The action will be carried live by WMOA-AM 1490. It can also be heard online at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/onlinebroadcasts.