April 9, 2008
MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College baseball team took on first place and visiting Mount Union College in an key Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) doubleheader on Wednesday (April 9) evening at Don Schaly Stadium. The Purple Raiders took game one 4-1, but the Pioneers salvaged the split with a 14-2 victory in the nightcap. Marietta moved to 10-14 overall and 6-2 in the OAC. Mount Union suffered its first loss in league play; they are now 16-7, 7-1 in the OAC.

Mount Union’s starter Paul Mariotti kept Marietta’s bats quiet for seven straight innings in game one, allowing just one run on three hits in the victory. Mariotti walked two and struck out five while improving to 5-0. Marietta’s T.J. Knowlton (Greenwich/Mapleton) suffered the loss, falling to 5-2. He allowed four runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts in five innings. Junior Jason Baumler (Crownsville, Md./Old Mill) threw two perfect innings with one strikeout to close the game for the Pioneers.

The Pioneers took a 1-0 lead in the second, when sophomore right fielder Ryan Frost (St. John, Ind./Lake Central) led off with a double and later scored on a RBI single up the middle by sophomore catcher Danny Jones (Lima/Shawnee).

The Purple Raiders got on the board in the fourth. Greg Ferrell hit a solo home run to right center with one out. A walk and then two straight singles and a double with two outs produced two more runs in the frame. Mount Union added its final run in the fifth when Cory Slaybaugh doubled home teammate Grant Sevek, who was hit by a pitch to start the inning.

Nate McFarland was the only player on either team to record two hits in the game, which had Mount Union out hit Marietta 6-3. The Purple Raiders made the only error.

Mount Union jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second game with a run on three hits in the first inning against junior Justin Merryman (New Philadelphia). Marietta responded with two runs on three hits in the bottom of the frame. Senior first baseman Dom Winters (Washington, Pa.) and sophomore designated hitter Nick Springer (Guysville/Federal Hocking) had RBI singles in the inning. The Purple Raiders tied the game at 2-2 in the third when three more hits produced a run; Slaybaugh had the RBI single.

Merryman with the help of sophomore Joe Pitrone (Highland Heights/Mayfield) and freshman Mark Williams (Fayetteville)—both pitched a scoreless inning on the back end—shutdown Mount Union the rest of the way. He allowed just two runs on 11 hits and struck out five in seven innings to improve to 2-3 on the year.

Marietta’s offense exploded for 12 runs between the third and fifth innings. Junior infielder Cameron Cimino (Boardman) and sophomore shortstop Tyler Penwell (Washington Court House) hit back-to-back home runs in the third. Cimino’s home run was a three-run shot and gave him the team lead with three on the year. Senior center fielder Tony Piconke (Clinton Township, Mich./Clintondale) drove in a run with a hit and Cimino added a two-run single in the fourth to stretch the lead to 9-2. Winters and Frost had run-scoring hits in the fifth, while Cimino also added a two-run double in the frame.

Overall, Marietta out hit Mount Union 16-13 in the win. The 16 hits was a season high. Cimino finished 3-for-4 with a run scored and a career-high seven RBI. Winters added three hits in five at-bats, while Piconke, Springer and freshman left fielder Britt Meador (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) all had two hits in the win. Ferrell led the Purple Raiders’ attack with a 3-for-5 game.

Joe Irwin (3-1) took the loss after allowing eight runs on nine hits in three innings. Steve Hustack, Jimmy Enright and Brad Griffith also saw action on the mound in the loss.

Marietta is back in action on Saturday (April 12) afternoon when it visits Wilmington College for a doubleheader with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. Both games can be heard live locally in Marietta on WMOA-AM 1490 and over the Internet at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/onlinebroadcasts.html.