Marietta baseball ends regular season with split at regional foe Thiel
Pioneers begin OAC Tournament play in Tiffin on Thursday against Otterbein at 4 p.m.

May 5, 2009
GREENVILLE, Pa. — The Marietta College baseball team put the finishing touches on its regular season with a doubleheader split at regional foe Thiel (Pa.) College Tuesday (May 5) afternoon. The Tomcats rallied for a 9-8 win in the opener, and the Pioneers turned the tables with a 5-4, eight-inning victory in the nightcap. Both teams head into their respective conference tournaments with a 27-13 record.

The Etta Express will be the third seed in the 2009 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament, which begins Thursday (May 7) afternoon at top-seeded Heidelberg University. Marietta will take on second-seeded Otterbein College in the second game of the day at 4 p.m. Heidelberg will host fourth-seeded John Carroll University in the opener at 1 p.m.

Thiel overcame a pair of four-run deficits to defeat Marietta 9-8 in the opener. The Tomcats made three errors and finished with 11 hits, while the Pioneers committed four errors and complied eight hits in the game.

Marietta held an early 4-0 lead after scoring a single run in the first and three more in the third. Sophomore Casey Levens (Dayton/Centerville) had one of his team-high two hits, a RBI single, in the Pioneers’ first at-bat. In the third, junior Dan Jones (Lima/Shawnee) led off with a double and freshman Niko Stanislav (Olmsted Falls/Berea) followed with a bunt single. Senior Cameron Cimino (Boardman) then doubled in a run. Junior Chris Beatty (Seven Fields, Pa./Hampton) added a RBI with a sacrifice fly, while Cimino crossed the plate with the third run on a wild pitch.

Thiel took advantage of three hits and three Marietta errors to tie the game at 4-4 in the fourth. The Etta Express regained a four-run lead by scoring four runs in the top of the sixth. Freshman Tim Saunders (Alliance) was hit by a pitch and later scored on an error, one of two for the Tomcats in the frame. Cimino drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly. Beatty followed with a run-scoring single, while Levens hit a triple to plate the fourth run and give Marietta the 8-4 advantage. The Tomcats answered by scoring five runs in the bottom of the sixth and then held on for the 9-8 victory.

Freshman Brian Gasser (New Philadelphia/Indian Valley) took the loss after allowing one run on two hits over the final 2/3 of an inning. Senior T.J. Knowlton (Greenwich/Mapleton) started the game and scattered two hits in two innings of work. Senior Jason Baumler (Crownsville, Md./Old Mill) replaced Knowlton and threw a scoreless third before giving up four runs (two earned) in the fourth. Sophomore Mark Williams (Fayetteville/Perry) was the third Pioneer pitcher to take the mound; he gave up four runs on three hits in 1 2/3 innings.

Marietta fought back from an early hole to send the second game into extra innings. The Etta Express then won it by scoring a run in the eighth to claim the 5-4 victory.

The Tomcats out hit the Pioneers for the second straight game, this time 12-9. They also made three errors, while Marietta had just one.

Thiel took a 1-0 advantage by scoring in the first. Marietta used small ball to tie the game at 1-1 in the third. Thompson, who finished 2-for-4, led off the frame with a double. Freshman Kirby Becker (South Euclid/St. Ignatius) sacrificed Thompson to third and Stanislav drove him across the plate with a sacrifice fly.

The Tomcats regained the lead, 3-1, with a triple, single and then double in the third. Senior Brennan Cribbins (Middleburg Heights/Midpark), who went 2-for-4, pulled Marietta within a run with a solo home run in the fourth.

The Pioneers gained their first advantage of the game with a two-run sixth. Junior Matt DeSico (Euclid) drew a bases loaded walk to force in a run. Levens then scored Marietta’s fourth run when Thompson reached on an error later in the frame. Thiel sent the game into extra inning by scoring the tying run in the bottom of the sixth.

A one-out single by DeSico got things going for the Etta Express in the eighth. Freshman Will Middleton (Johnstown) pinch ran for DeSico and stole second. Sophomore Chris Dowdell (North Ridgeville/Walsh Jesuit) then reached on an error, allowing Middleton to move over to third. Thompson came through with the game-winning hit, a single to score Middleton and give the Pioneers a 5-4 lead. Senior Nate Eschbaugh (Marietta) entered in the bottom of the eighth and retired three straight to secure the win and earn his second save of the spring.

Levens, who allowed one run on four hits, worked two innings of relief to pick up the win and improve to 1-0. Senior Chris Stewart (Dublin/Coffman) threw the first two innings; he gave up one run on three hits. Freshman Kyle Lindquist (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) pitched the next two innings and allowed two runs on four hits. Sophomore Bryce Goldbach (Moon Township, Pa.) bridged the gap between Lindquist and Levens with a scoreless fifth inning.