National Champion Marietta falls 8-4 to No. 1 Chapman in first game at NCAA Division III World Series
No. 7 Pioneers will play in an elimination game Saturday at 2:15 p.m.

May 25, 2007
APPLETON, Wis. — The National Champion Marietta College baseball team will have a tougher challenge as it attempts to defend its 2006 title after the Etta Express opened the 36th NCAA Division III World Series with a hard-fought 8-4 loss to top-ranked Chapman University of Orange, California, Friday (May 25) evening at Fox Cities Stadium. The victory helped the Cougars avenge a 10-4 loss to the Pioneers on day three of the 2006 series, the only other meeting between the schools.

The championship is being hosted by both Wis.-Oshkosh and Lawrence. The No. 7 Pioneers are making their 19th appearance in the World Series and have taken home four national championships (1981, 1983, 1986, 2006); both are tournament records.

The Cougars (41-6) sent first team All-American Devin Drag to the hill to against Pioneers sophomore T.J. Knowlton (Greenwich/Mapleton). Both teams had their bats going early and often in the game.

Marietta (32-16) out-hit Chapman 14-13 but left 12 men on base in the loss. The Pioneers played error-free baseball, while the Cougars had a pair of defensive miscues.

Chapman’s Tyler Dean and Stuart Hyman delivered back-to-back doubles with two outs in the top of the first to give their squad a 1-0 lead.

Marietta tied the game at 1-1 in its first at-bat of the game. Senior Ryan Eschbaugh (Marietta) had a one-out triple to right center field. Junior Tony Piconke (Clinton Twp., Mich./Clintondale) followed with a double to left center field, driving in Eschbaugh.

The Etta Express took the lead an inning later. Sophomore Justin Merryman (New Philadelphia) doubled to begin the second. Freshman Danny Jones (Lima/Shawnee), the next hitter, reached on a base-hit bunt with two strikes, moving Merryman to third. Sophomore Cameron Cimino (Boardman) followed with a RBI single through the right side to give Marietta a 2-1 advantage.

The Cougars knotted the game at 2-2 in the third. A walk and hit batter with two outs were followed by a RBI single from Hyman down the right field line.

Marietta bounced right back with two runs in the fourth to regain the lead. Jones began the frame with single through the left side. Cimino then bounced a ball over the right field fence for a ground-rule double with Jones gliding to third. Eschbaugh followed with a two-run double to right center field to clear the bases and extend the Pioneers’ lead to 4-2.

Chapman plated three runs in the top of the fifth to take its second lead of the game, 5-4. Dean had a run-scoring double, and Patrick Ohail picked up a two-run single in the frame.

The Cougars added to their lead in the sixth, when Jake Hurst doubled home Kurt Yacko to make it 6-4. The hit ended the night for Knowlton, who took the loss to fall to 8-2. He allowed six runs on nine hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. Freshman Nate Eschbaugh (Marietta) relieved Knowlton and worked around two walks and an infield single to keep Chapman from scoring again in the frame.

The deficit grew to three runs and then four when Kyle Redding and Hyman had RBI singles in the eighth. Freshman Tyler Penwell (Washington Court House) took over for Eschbaugh on the mound with one out in the frame and retired four out of the five hitters he faced in one 1/3 innings. Eschbaugh gave up two runs on three hits and walked three—two intentionally—in two 1/3 innings.

In the bottom of the eighth, Marietta got its first two batters—Jones and Cimino—on base by way of errors, knocking out Drag in the process. Yacko moved over from third base to the mound in replace of Drag. Eschbaugh was able to advance the runners to second and third with a ground out, but Yacko got out of the jam with another ground out and strike out to keep the score at 8-4 in favor of Chapman.

Drag, who improved to a nation’s best 16-0, allowed four runs on 14 hits, walked one and fanned five in seven innings. Yacko retired all six batters that he faced, striking out three.

Jones led the Marietta offense with a 3-for-4 day at the plate, while Cimino, Eschbaugh, sophomore Brennan Cribbins (Middleburg Heights/Midpark) and Merryman all had two hits apiece in the loss. Hyman and Redding both had three hits for Chapman.

Two games preceded the Marietta vs. Chapman match-up on day one of the World Series. Wis.-Stevens Point defeated Emory (Ga.) 2-0 in the opening game as Jordan Zimmerman threw a one-hitter and went 3-for-3 at the plate in the win. In game two, Carthage (Wis.) collected 18 hits en route to a 15-4 victory over Eastern Connecticut State.

Marietta will return to action in one of two elimination games on Saturday (May 26). The Etta Express will take on the loser of SUNY-Cortland and Kean (N.J.) at 2:15 p.m. The action can be heard live on WMOA-AM 1490. The broadcast will be carried online at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/onlinebroadcasts.html. In addition CSTV.com is expected to provide video of all games and live statistics are available on the host web site.