(TERRE HAUTE, Ind.) - The sixth-seeded Thomas More College baseball team fell to second-seeded and 13th-ranked Marietta College, 16-1, tonight (Thursday, May 16, 2013) in a winner's bracket game of the NCAA Division III Championship Mideast Regional hosted by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology at Art Nehf Field in Terre Haute, Indiana.
With the loss, the Saints fall to 30-15 and will play fourth-seeded and 25th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University tomorrow at 1:15 p.m. in an elimination game. With the win, the Pioneers improve to 31-12 and advance to play top-seeded and ninth-ranked Manchester University in the winner's bracket finals at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow.
Marietta took a 12-0 after five and a half innings as it scored four runs in the first, five in the second, two in the third and one in the fifth.
The Saints cut the lead to 12-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning when junior second baseman Jason Handley (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) hit a run batted-in double scoring sophomore catcher Brad Popham (Edgewood, Ky./Dixie Heights).
The Pioneers extended the lead to 16-1 with four innings in the top of the eighth inning.
Handley led the team at the plate as he was two-for-four with a double and a RBI. Popham and junior designated hitter Travis Miller (Erlanger, Ky./St. Henry) each had a hit.
Senior pitcher Grant Lewis (Mason, Ohio/Mason) suffered the loss as he pitched two innings and gave up nine runs (five earned) on nine hits and struck out two. Freshman pitcher Logan Miller (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) pitched six innings of relief and gave up seven runs (all earned) on 12 hits and struck out one. Sophomore pitcher Ethan Fleming (Heath, Ohio/Heath) pitched a scoreless ninth inning and gave up one hit.