National Champion Etta Express eliminates No. 1 Wooster from Mideast Regional with 6-3 victory
Marietta faces Ohio Wesleyan in Championship Game Saturday at 12 p.m.

May 18, 2007
STRONGSVILLE, Ohio — Junior Joe Litke (Windsor, Conn.) went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a pair of RBI, and freshman Nate Eschbaugh (Marietta) threw seven strong innings to earn the win as the National Champion Marietta College baseball team eliminated No. 1 Wooster (42-7) from the NCAA Division III Tournament with a 6-3 victory Friday (May 18) night at Mills Field.

With the win, Etta Express remains undefeated in Regional play, improves to 31-14 and advances to Saturday (May 19) afternoon's Mideast Championship at 12 p.m.. The Pioneers' opponent will be Ohio Wesleyan (26-15), who would need to win twice for Marietta not to claim the title, which carries a berth to the World Series in Appleton, Wisonsin. The Battling Bishops avoided elimination Friday with a 6-5 victory over Hope (Mich.).

Eschbaugh, like his two sophomore teammates—Justin Merryman (New Philadelphia) and T.J. Knowlton (Greenwich/Mapleton)—in the first two outings of the tournament, rose to the occasion on the Regional stage. The right-hander limited the explosive Fighting Scot offense to three runs, all in the seventh, on six hits while walking one and striking out six. He improved to 5-2 with the win.

Freshman Tyler Penwell (Washington Court House) finished the game with two scoreless innings, walking one and fanning another to secure all important victory, Marietta's eighth straight post-season victory, dating back to 2006.

Marietta's pitching staff, which has featured two sophomores and two freshmen, has now allowed just four runs on 16 hits in 27 innings at the tournament.

The Pioneers' offense, which out-hit the Fighting Scots 10-6, struck for a pair of runs in the bottom of the second frame off Wooster freshman starter Matt Barnes, who actually threw the first seven innings in the Fighting Scots' 3-2 win to eliminate Otterbein earlier in the day. Freshman Jeremy Reese (Massillon/Washington) walked to start the inning. Litke followed with a single to center. Sophomore Brennan Cribbins (Middleburg Heights/Midpark), who finished 2-for-4, then reached on a bunt single. All three Pioneers moved up a base with Reese scoring after the throw attempting to get Cribbins sailed out of play. Freshman Danny Jones (Lima/Shawnee) followed with a RBI ground out to plate Litke and give Marietta the 2-0 lead.

Marietta added to its lead in the fourth. Litke led off with a single to left. Cribbins singled through the left side. Jones sacrificed runners to second and third with a bunt. Freshman Kristian DeJeet (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) drove in Litke with a single to left. After a pitching change, sophomore Cameron Cimino (Boardman) sent a sacrifice fly to center, allowing Cribbins to cross the plate with the fourth run of the game.

The Etta Express were back at it again in the fifth. Senior Ryan Eschbaugh (Marietta) reached a bunt single to begin the inning. Junior Tony Piconke (Clinton Twp., Mich./Clintondale) then doubled to left, moving Eschbaugh to third. Junior Tom Doty (Mentor) walked to load the bases. A 1-2-3 double play had Wooster fans thinking they would escape the inning unscathed, but Litke followed with a two-out, two-run single to center field, scoring Doty and Piconke and extending Marietta's lead to 6-0.

Eschbaugh lost his shutout in the top of the seventh. A lead off walk to Pat Christensen was followed by back-to-back doubles by Justin Thomas, who finished 2-for-4, and Oliver Enos. Enos, who drove in two with his hit, later scored on a sacrifice fly by Dan Skulina. Eschbaugh ended the inning and his night by getting Shaun Swearingen to ground out to his brother Ryan.

Penwell, who relieved Eschbaugh in the eighth, preserved the 6-3 victory with two stellar innings of work.

Barnes suffered the loss to finish the year 9-2. He allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits while walking and striking out a pair in 3 1/3 innings. John Warren then gave up two runs on three hits and walked one in 1 2/3 innings, before Anthony Trapuzzano closed the game. He allowed just one hit, walked one and fanned seven in the final three innings.

On Saturday, Marietta will attempt to claim its 20th Mideast Regional title since 1975. The action can be heard live locally, beginning at 6:50 p.m., in Marietta on WMOA-AM 1490 and all over the world online at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/onlinebroadcasts.html. Live statistics are also available on the tournament web site by visiting http://athletics.wooster.edu/base/news/2007/regional/default.php.