Etta Express claims a share of OAC baseball title with sweep of Baldwin-Wallace
Heidelberg will host OAC Tournament and Marietta will be the second seed

May 5, 2007
MARIETTA, Ohio – The National Champion Marietta College baseball team took care of business Saturday (May 5) afternoon on the final day of Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play. The No. 30 Pioneers swept a doubleheader from visiting Baldwin-Wallace, winning 5-3 and 10-1, on a rainy Alumni Day at Don Schaly Stadium.

The sweep improved Marietta's record to 28-11 overall and 13-5 in the OAC. Baldwin-Wallace finishes the year 15-20, 8-10 in the OAC. The Etta Express won a share of the OAC regular season title, tying with Heidelberg, who swept Muskingum, for first place in the league. The Student Princes won the tiebreaker and will host next week's OAC Tournament, which begins Thursday in Tiffin, Ohio. Marietta will be the second seed and open with third-seeded Otterbein, who split a twinbill with host John Carroll to fall out of first place. Capital secured the fourth seed with a sweep of Ohio Northern on Saturday.

Marietta took a 3-0 lead in the second inning of the opener. Freshman Mark Lakas (Westerville/Mason) opened with a walk. He moved to second on a single by senior Ryan Eschbaugh (Marietta). Lakas was then thrown out trying to steal third; Eschbaugh moved to second on the play. Sophomore Justin Merryman (New Philadelphia) followed with a walk, and freshman Jeremy Reese (Massillon/Washington) loaded the bases with an infield single. A sacrifice fly by freshman Danny Jones (Lima/Shawnee) drove in Eschbaugh. Senior Ryan Belanger (Coldwater, Mich.) singled home Merryman and sophomore Cameron Cimino (Boardman) singled home Reese for the second and third run, respectively.

Baldwin-Wallace scored an unearned run in the top of the fifth off Marietta sophomore starter T.J. Knowlton (Greenwich/Mapleton).

The Pioneers added to their lead with a two-run sixth. Senior Joe Litke (Windsor, Conn.) led off the frame with a solo home run. Lakas followed with a walk before being lifted for a pinch runner, Kristian DeJeet (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional). Merryman singled two batters later and then both runners advanced on a wild pitch. A ground out by Reese plated DeJeet with Marietta’s fifth and final run of the game.

The Yellow Jackets scored two runs, knocking Knowlton out of the game with one out in the top of the seventh. Freshman Nate Eschbaugh (Marietta) entered to get the final two outs and secure the 5-3 victory.

Knowlton (7-0) scattered three runs (two earned) on nine hits and struck out five in 6 1/3 innings. Eschbaugh, who earned his second save of the year, struck out one.

Baldwin-Wallace actually out-hit Marietta, 9-7, and the Pioneers made the only error. Reese finished 2-for-3, while Jake Gross, Bob Storesina and Kevin Shenker all went 2-for-3 for the Yellow Jackets.

The Yellow Jackets took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the nightcap, which was called after the top of the fifth because of rain.

Marietta responded with four runs in the bottom of the frame. Eschbaugh drew a one-out walk. Junior Tony Piconke (Clinton Twp., Mich./Clintondale) followed with a single. Junior Tom Doty (Mentor) was then hit by a pitch to load the bases. Lakas then reached on a fielding error and all of the runners moved up with Eschbaugh scoring. After Litke popped up, Reese drew a walk to force in another run. Sophomore Don Pugliese (Coraopolis, Pa./West Allegheny) then singled up the middle to plate two more runs.

As the rain began to fall, the Pioneers added four more runs in the second inning. Belanger and Eschbaugh opened with back-to-back singles. Piconke then singled home Belanger. A Doty single loaded the bases. Lakas then walked, plating a run. Litke added a RBI with a single through the left side. A Reese sacrifice fly scored the other run and Marietta led 8-1 after two frames.

A Litke home run, his second of the day and fourth of the year, extended Marietta's lead to 9-1 in the fourth inning. Belanger also had a RBI double to score Reese, who singled after the Litke home run, in the frame to make the score 10-1. That is where it ended as the rain intensified. Once Merryman, the game two starter, got three outs in the top of the fifth, the game was called because of rain.

Marietta finished with 11 hits, while Baldwin-Wallace had seven in the game. Merryman improved to 7-3. He allowed one run on seven hits, walked one and struck out five. Clayton Kynkor took the loss after giving up right runs (five earned) on seven hits in two innings.

Piconke finished 3-for-3, while Belanger and Litke both had two hits in the win. Cody Kidd went 3-fo-3 in the loss.

Marietta has one final regular season game before the OAC Tournament begins. The Pioneers will play host to Thiel (Pa.) Sunday (May 6) in a single, nine-inning game at 2 p.m. A junior varsity contest will follow at 5 p.m. The action will be carried live by WMOA-AM 1490. It can also be heard online at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/onlinebroadcasts.html and live statistics of all home games are available by visiting http://pioneers.marietta.edu/livestats/xlive.htm.