WASHINGTON, Pa. – Washington & Jefferson College came back from nine runs down to defeat No. 3 ranked Marietta College by the score of 11-10 Sunday (April 7) afternoon. Catcher Ronny Peirish hit a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth to complete the comeback.
The loss drops Marietta College to 15-6 on the season. The Presidents improve to 14-5 with their first victory over the Pioneers since 1895.
Marietta scored in each of the first four innings leading 9-0 at one point and 10-2 after batting in the top of the fourth inning.
Sophomore Jared Baird (1-0) took over on the mound for W&J in the fifth inning and shut Marietta out the rest of the way to earn the win. The Presidents started undefeated staff ace Eddie Nogay who struggled through the first four innings.
Nogay gave up 10 runs, nine earned, on 11 base hits in his four innings of work. He walked three and struck out two. Baird did not allow a run while scattering four hits over the final five innings. Baird walked two and struck out two.
The Pioneers scored twice in the first inning and then added three in the second and four more in the third for a 9-0 lead. W&J plated two runs in the bottom of the third and would go on to score in each of the last seven innings.
Sophomore Stephen Bascom started for the Pioneers and threw 4.1 innings. He gave up six runs on eight hits and walked six W&J hitters. The Presidents would benefit from 12 walks issued by Marietta pitchers in the game.
Marietta used a total of five pitchers in the game. Senior Mike Mulvey (4-2) was tagged with the loss. Mulvey threw 1.0 inning and gave up one run on two hits with a walk.
Second baseman Scott Liller singled up the middle to lead off the bottom of the ninth for the Presidents. D.J. Michalski sacrificed him into scoring position forcing the Pioneers to intentionally walk right fielder Josh Staniscia.
Peirish stepped to the plate and delivered a ground-rule double to center field that scored Liller with the winning run. Peirish finished the game 5-of-6 with three doubles and four runs batted in.
The top four hitters in the W&J lineup went a combined 11-for-19 in the game.
Senior Aaron Hopper led the Pioneer attack going 4-for-5 with a double. Third baseman Bryan Gregorich collected three hits including a double, while Jordan Grilliot, Alex Toth and Josh Ungerbuehler each had two hits.
Ungerbuehler drove in three runs and hit his second home run of the season, while Toth had a pair of doubles.
Marietta returns to conference play on Wednesday (April 10) when Muskingum University comes to Don Schaly Stadium for a 4:00 p.m. doubleheader. 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.