March 14, 2008
FORT WORTH, Texas — The Marietta College baseball team entered Friday (March 14) afternoon looking to leave Texas on a positive note. Unfortunately, host Texas Wesleyan had other plans and sent the Pioneers to their defeat twice, winning 20-10 and 8-3 at LaGrave Field, the home of the Fort Worth Cats, a member of the American Association of Independent Baseball.

With the losses, Marietta returns to the Mid-Ohio Valley 2-9 overall and finished 1-7 on the trip, which featured many top-notch opponents midway through their 2008 schedule. Texas Wesleyan, a NAIA school, improved to 15-8 and evened the three-year series between the two teams at 3-3.

Junior T.J. Knowlton (Greenwich/Mapleton) suffered his first loss of the year in the opener. Knowlton (2-1) allowed 11 runs (six earned) on 10 hits while walking two and striking out four in 3 1/3 innings.

After a scoreless first, the Rams scored in every inning. They plated two in the second, four in the third, five in the fourth, six in the fifth and three more in the sixth to finish with 20 runs on 18 hits. Texas Wesleyan was able to overcome three errors in the opener.

Marietta, who finished with 11 hits and had four errors, scored all of its run in the middle innings with three in the fourth, four in the fifth and three in the sixth. Senior Dom Winters (Washington, Pa.) had a solid game at the plate, finishing 3-for-4 with one run batted in and three runs scored. Sophomore Mark Lakas (Westerville/Mason) added a pair of hits with three RBI in four at-bats.

The Pioneers held a 1-0 lead after their first at-bat of game two, but the Rams responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame and two more in the second to regain the momentum. Texas Wesleyan added another run in the fourth and completed the scoring with two in the sixth. Marietta scored its other two runs in the fifth frame.

Texas Wesleyan out-hit Marietta 15-5 in the nightcap and the Pioneers committed the only two errors. Five different members of the Etta Express had a hit in the game; junior Brennan Cribbins (Maple Heights/Midpark) had the lone RBI when he walked with the bases loaded in the first.

Sophomore Joe Pitrone (Highland Heights/Mayfield) took the loss, falling to 0-2 on the spring. He gave up six runs on 11 hits and struck out two in 3 1/3 innings. Sophomore Nate Eschbaugh (Marietta) finished the game and allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits while fanning one over the final 2 2/3 frames.

Marietta will return to action on Wednesday (March 19) when it travels to Lexington, Ky., for a junior varsity/varsity doubleheader against Transylvania University. Transylvania has gotten off to a great start and is 9-1 as of Saturday. First pitch of the JV game will be at 1 p.m. and the varsity game will follow at 4 p.m. The varsity action can be heard live locally in Marietta on WMOA-AM 1490 and over the Internet at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/onlinebroadcasts.html.