TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Marietta College served noticed to the rest of the 2013 NCAA Mideast Regional field that the Pioneers are determined to defend their crown. The Etta Express dispatched Penn State-Behrend 11-1 Wednesday (May 15) evening at Art Nehf Field on the campus of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
Marietta improves to 30-12 on the season and will face Thomas More College (Ky.) (30-14 overall) Thursday at 7:45 p.m. in the winners bracket. Thomas More crushed the College of Wooster 20-4 in the first round.
Penn State falls to 30-11 overall. The Lions will play Wooster (32-11) at 1:15 p.m. Thursday.
Freshman Jason Byers (7-2) stymied the Penn State hitters all night as he faced just three batters over the minimum in 8.0 innings of work. He scattered five hits and struck out 10 while issuing just one walk.
Making his NCAA Tournament debut, Byers showed no signs of being nervous. He retired the Lions in order in the first including a pair of strikeouts. The rookie worked out of a little trouble in the second inning when PSU put two runners on base. Byers ended the threat with another strikeout.
With Byers cruising on the mound, the Etta Express offense went to work early. Jordan Grilliot led off the first inning with a single up the middle. Evan Brockmeier dropped down a bunt and beat it out for a single.
A sacrifice bunt from Chris Winpigler moved the runners into scoring position for Marietta's leading hitter, Alex Toth. Toth delivered a two-run single to right field.
Two unearned runs in the third inning pushed the Pioneers lead to 4-0. Mitch Geers plated one run with a double down the right field line and Aaron Hopper drove in another with a sac fly.
Penn State starting pitcher Ryan Jacobs (8-2) settled down and blanked the Pioneers over the next three innings. Jacobs went 7.0 innings and was charged with five runs, three earned on 10 hits. He walked two and struck out nine.
Brockmeier got things going in the seventh with a lead off double. Winpigler reached on a bunt base hit moving Brockmeier to third. Toth grounded into a double play, but Brockmeier was able to score making it 5-0.
The floodgates opened in the eighth inning as Marietta sent 11 batters to the plate resulting in six runs and an 11-0 lead. PSU used three pitchers in the inning as the Pioneers banged out four hits and received two bases loaded walks and one hit batsman.
The Lions got on the board in the ninth inning. Sophomore Mike Fulton took over on the mound for the Pioneers and beaned the first batter he faced. A wild pitch moved the runner into scoring position for Matt Bittner who singled up the middle to score the run.
Toth and Brockmeier each collected three hits in the game as Marietta had 14 total. Brockmeier had a pair of doubles, while Toth drove in three runs. Grilliot went 2-for-4 and Geers was 2-for-3 with a double.
Fans can follow the Pioneers' quest for a third straight national championship at pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter.