MARIETTA, Ohio – The No. 6 ranked Marietta College Pioneers scored in each of the first five innings to defeat the No. 28 ranked College of Wooster Fighting Scots 9-5 Thursday (April 25) evening. The Etta Express improves to 22-8 on the season, while Wooster falls to 22-9 overall.
The Fighting Scots started freshman Patrick Boyle on the mound and he found himself trailing 3-0 in a matter of minutes in the bottom of the first inning. Senior Jordan Grilliot greeted the rookie with a towering home run over the wall in right center to lead off the inning.
Boyle then issued a walk to Pioneer first baseman Evan Brockmeier. Center fielder Aaron Hopper followed with a blast that hit off the top of the fence in right field for his first home run of the season.
Marietta added another run in the opening frame off an RBI-triple from third baseman Bryan Gregorich.
Pioneer senior catcher Alex Toth drove in a run with a double in the second inning as Marietta plated two more runs for a 6-0 lead.
Wooster got on the board with a run in the top of the third only to see Gregorich pick up his second RBI of the game with a sac fly in the bottom half of the inning. Marietta added one in the fourth to push the lead to 8-1.
Freshman Christian Herstine started on the mound for Marietta and cruised through the first four innings. Wooster roughed Herstine up in the fifth scoring four runs on five base hits to trim the lead to 8-5.
Herstine (1-0) worked 5.0 innings and allowed five runs on eight hits to record his first career win. He walked three and struck out three.
Marietta got one run back in the bottom of the fifth when sophomore shortstop Christian Demko doubled and scored on a single from freshman Tyler Packanik.
Senior Mike Mulvey pitched 2.0 perfect innings with a strike out and then Brockmeier tossed the final 2.0 innings allowing one hit.
Boyle (0-1) took the loss. Boyle pitched 2.0 innings and was charged with six runs, four earned, on six hits. He walked one. Five other pitchers toed the rubber for Wooster in the game.
Sophomore Mitch Geers went 3-for-4 with a double, while Gregorich and Packanik each had two hits in the game.
Marietta hosts Baldwin Wallace University Saturday (April 27) in a key Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader. The Yellow Jackets are currently in second place in the league standings one game behind the Pioneers. First pitch for the annual Community Day game is set for 1:00 p.m.
Fans can follow the Pioneers all season long at pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter.