MARIETTA, Ohio – Case Western Reserve University did what few teams have been able to do in the history of Marietta College baseball, as the Spartans swept a doubleheader from the Pioneers at Don Schaly Stadium Saturday (May 4) afternoon.
Case Western (27-12 overall) used the long ball to defeat Marietta (27-10 overall) by the score of 10-8 in game one. The Spartans hit four home runs in the game accounting for nine of their 10 runs.
First baseman Brett Ossolo impressed everyone in attendance hitting three round trippers and knocking in seven runs. Ossolo finished the game 3-for-4 with a walk. Second baseman Paul Pakan smacked the Spartans' other home run in the game.
Senior Mike Mulvey (7-3) was tagged with the loss. Mulvey worked 7.0 innings and gave up eight runs, all on home runs, on 11 hits. He walked two and struck out six. Freshman Jordan Carithers allowed one run over the final 2.0 innings.
Spartan senior Jarrett Gish (7-0) picked up the win. Gish threw 6.0 innings and allowed six runs, three earned, on 10 hits. Gish walked one and struck out three.
Sophomore Kevin Johnston tossed 2.2 innings of relief giving up to runs on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Classmate Daniel Sondag picked up his fourth save of the season by striking out the only batter he faced to end the game.
Marietta junior second baseman Zach Bukiewicz went 2-for-3 with an RBI triple. Senior Aaron Hopper finished 2-for-4, while sophomore Chris Winpigler had a triple and senior Jordan Grilliot doubled.
The Pioneers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second game only to watch the Spartans score nine unanswered runs to take a 9-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning. Marietta managed one run in the ninth losing 9-4.
Senior Jamie Hora (5-2) threw 8.2 strong innings before being relieved with two outs in the ninth. Hora allowed four runs on nine hits. He walked four and had three strikeouts. Sondag again came in and struck out the only batter he faced.
The Pioneers scored two in the second inning for the early lead. Freshman Tim McCoy drove in designated hitter Alex Toth with a single up the middle. Later in the inning, Marietta executed a double steal with McCoy stealing home.
Sophomore Mitch Geers led off the third inning with a triple to right center and then scored when Toth lined a single to center field.
The Spartans scored a pair of runs in the fifth and then tied the game with, 3-3, with a run in the seventh. Case took the lead in the eighth when Pakan led off with a double and advanced to third on a flyout. A sac fly from Andrew Frey scored Pakan with the go ahead run.
Case sent 10 hitters to the plate in the ninth scoring five runs. The Spartans banged out five hits in the inning and took advantage of a Pioneer error to push the lead to 9-3.
Marietta managed a run in the bottom of the inning before Sondag ended the game with a strikeout.
Senior Evan Brockmeier (4-3) was charged with the loss. Brockmeier worked 8.1 innings allowing eight runs on 11 hits. He walked one and struck out two. Sophomore Anthony Knittel allowed one unearned run in 0.2 innings or work.
Toth led the Pioneers attack with three hits in four at bats. Winpigler went 2-for-4, while Geers added a triple.
Marietta plays a single non-conference game on Sunday (May 5) at La Roche College (Pa.). First pitch is set for 3:00 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.