MARIETTA, Ohio - For the first time since 2007 the Marietta College Pioneers will not appear in the Championship Round of the Ohio Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament. The host team fell to fourth seeded Otterbein University, 10-8, in an elimination game Saturday afternoon at Don Schaly Stadium.
"We lost twice to Otterbein," Marietta College head coach Brain Brewer said. "I think Otterbein beat us both times. They (the Cardinals) played well."
Otterbein's Wes Meadows came into the contest tied for the school's career hit record. In his first at-bat, Meadows rocketed a ball off the Marietta pitcher's leg and into shallow right field to break the record. Meadows ended the day 2-for-3 at the plate, scoring twice, driving in two runs and being intentionally walked twice.
Otterbein (26-15 overall) scored early and often plating three runs in each of the first two innings to jump out to an early on the top seeded Pioneers. After singling and scoring in the first inning, Meadows, stepped to the plate in the second inning and drilled a home run over the left-center field wall.
Two more runs were added in the forth frame for Cardinals, giving them a six run lead with Billy Harkenrider and Sean Kettering each picking up an RBI in the rally.
Tyler Ellis (5-1) started the day on the hill for Otterbein and picked up the win despite giving up eight earned runs on 12 hits. But the Cardinals bullpen shined going three innings without allowing a Marietta rally to spoil the Cardinals victory.
Mike Finlan (4-1) was tagged with the loss going two innings, allowing six runs, five earned on six hits.
"Finlan has been good for us all year," Brewer said. "He wasn't too sharp today. There were some things lineup wise I might second guess for a couple nights."
Marietta (29-12) jumped on the scoreboard in the home half of the first inning after spotting the Cardinals a three-spot in the top of the inning. Jordan Grilliot singled to start the game. After an Evan Brockmeier fly out, Chris Winpigler hit an inside-the-park home run to right field for his first home run of the season.
Marietta put two more on the board in the fifth cutting the advantage down to four on a Winpigler two-run blast to left-center field. But Otterbein matched the Pioneers' output in the next half inning pushing the lead back to six runs.
But the back-to-back champions weren't going away without a fight. In the seventh inning the Marietta bats awoke and the Pioneers pushed four runs across the plate. Ryan Hanahan started off the inning with a single. Grilliot and Brockmeier followed suit.
Winpigler gobbled up the final two of his six RBI with a single up the middle. Mitch Geers plated Brockmieier with an RBI single and Winpigler scored on an Aaron Hopper groundout.
"We showed a lot of heart battling back in seventh inning," Brewer said. "It's a credit to our kids. It's a credit to our club and I am proud of them."
David Cydrus came in to finish the Pioneers off in the last two innings. After working out of a bases loaded, one out jam in the 8th frame, Cydrus only faced four batters in the ninth inning to earn his first save of the season. Cydrus allowed a pair of hits, struck out three and walked one.
Marietta College still has a chance to secure an at-large bid in the NCAA Mideast Regional Tournament in Terre Haute, Ind. The bids will be announced early Monday morning.