May 3,, 2007

Baseball suffers from rough week
Ellen Doolittle
doolitte@marietta.edu

The Pioneers kicked off a very busy weekend Friday with a doubleheader sweep over Muskingum with scores of 2-0 and 11-3. Those wins would be the first for the Etta Express in the six-game marathon that took place in just three days.

On Saturday Marietta split with Heidelberg, winning the first with a score of 3-2. In the victory, freshman Nate Eschbaugh pitched a complete game to improve his personal record to 4-1 on the season. Eschbaugh struck out seven, allowing just two runs on seven hits in Don Schaly Stadium.

The nightcap was not as successful for the Pioneers as they suffered a 16-7 loss. The Student Princes had built a 6-0 lead in the first few innings before seniors Ryan Belanger and Ryan Eschbaugh sparked a comeback attempt in the third. A Belanger single and Eschbaugh RBI triple kicked-off the inning as sophomore Cameron Cimino followed with an RBI to bring the score to 11-2.

The Etta Express rallied again in the fifth, earning three runs as senior Joe Litke stepped up to bat with the bases loaded. A two-run single by sophomore Don Pugliese advanced the score to 11-5. The rally was short-lived as the Student Princes added five runs in the top of the sixth, making the lead 16-5. The Pioneers would score just twice more on hits by freshmen Mark Lakas and Chris Beatty in the seventh. Freshman Tyler Penwell was handed the loss on the mound, although seven Pioneers took the hill during game two. Heidelberg out-hit Marietta 17-11 and had only two errors to the Pioneer four.

The Etta Express and a worn-thin pitching staff took on No. 1 Wooster the following day to complete the six-game weekend. The Pioneers fell 14-0 in the first showdown as the Fighting Scots scored in every inning. Three freshmen took the mound for the Pioneers but Wooster knocked four homeruns out of their home stadium. The Etta Express had just three hits in game one.

Marietta fired back in game two when freshmen Jeremy Reese went 3-for-3, hitting his first career homerun. Freshmen seemed to be all the pitching staff had left as Dave Van Voorhees started on the mound and Tyler Penwell closed. Sophomore ace Jason Baumler, who has been suffering from an elbow injury, made a brief appearance, but otherwise the Etta Express threw strictly freshmen. The Pioneers fell 7-3 in game two as Wooster out-hit the Etta Express 10-6 and Marietta was credited with three errors. The Pioneers’ record dropped to 24-11.

Marietta will travel to Wittenberg on the first of May and then to Washington and Jefferson on Wednesday. Both games will be Junior Varsity and Varsity doubleheaders. The Etta Express returns to conference play on May 5 against Baldwin-Wallace. This OAC finisher will be the Pioneer’s last home game and Alumni Day.