MARIETTA, Ohio — The No. 12 ranked Marietta College baseball team downed Wilmington College twice on Saturday (March 27) by the scores of 12-2 and 11-3. The Etta Express improves to 9-1 overall and 9-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Wilmington falls to 1-9 on the season and 0-6 in the OAC.
Pioneer junior Gino Sabatine (3-0) had a no-hitter through five innings and ended up allowing two runs on six hits in 8.0 innings of work. He walked two and struck out one in the winning effort. Dylan Risola made his collegiate debut and worked the ninth inning giving up two hits and striking out one.
Marietta got on the board with three runs in the second inning. Logan Vietmeier led off with a double and scored on an RBI single from Drew Holderbach. Trent Castle walked and then a balk moved both runners up one base. Brady Cottom followed with a two-run single up the middle.
Holderbach drove in another run in the third with a single to left. Damian Yenzi started the inning with a base hit to left and then stole second base and scored on Holderbach's hit.
The Pioneers added four more runs in the fifth inning pushing the lead to 8-0. Vietmeier, Holderbach and Castle each knocked in a run in the rally.
Holderbach continued his hot streak at the plate with a two-run blast off the light pole in left field in the seventh. Trent Valentine added a two-run triple in the eighth.
Holderbach finished 3-for-4 with a home run and five runs batted in. Jared Weiss, Yenzi, Vietmeier and Cottom each had two hits in the game for the Pioneers.
Luke Chappie (0-2) started on the mound for Wilmington and took the loss. He worked 4.2 innings and gave up eight runs on 11 hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Ryan Townsend allowed four runs over the final 3.1 innings.
The Quakers grabbed an early lead in game two with a pair of runs in the first inning. Marietta got one run back in the bottom of the frame when Turner Hill manufactured a run.
Hill reached on a one-out single and stole second. He moved to third when Wilmington dropped a third strike on Yenzi and had to throw him out at first base. Hill then scored on a wild pitch.
Wilmington added an unearned run in the third inning for a 3-1 lead. The Pioneers answered with two runs in the home half of the inning to even the game at 3-3. Once again Hill came through. This time with a two-run double in the right-center gap.
The Pioneers pulled away with two runs in the fifth, four in the sixth and two more in the seventh. Zach Boyd delivered a two-run single in the fifth and Will Keefe smacked a two-run bomb to left in the seventh.
Hill went 4-for-5 with a double, triple and three RBI. Weiss, Yenzi, Boyd and Matthew Busby each had two hits in the game.
Dalton Wiggins (3-0) threw 6.0 innings of shutout relief for the win. He allowed one hit and walked one. Nicklaus Brown started and pitched 3.0 innings. He gave up three runs, two earned, on five hits.
Kaleb Stines (0-2) started and took the loss for the Quakers. Stines allowed five runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings of work. He walked two and struck out two. Three other Quakers threw in relief.
Marietta plays at Wilmington College on Sunday (March 28). First pitch is set for 1 p.m.