PORT CHARLOTTE, Florida — A four-run third inning propelled No. 2 ranked Marietta College to a 5-3 victory over Lebanon Valley College Sunday (March 6) afternoon at the Snowbird Baseball Classic. The Etta Express moves to 3-1 on the season, while the Flying Dutchmen fall to 0-3 overall.
Marietta took advantage of an LVC error in the bottom of the first to grab a 1-0 lead. Damian Yenzi reached on a throwing error by the third baseman. He later scored on an RBI double off the bat of Logan Vietmeier.
Yenzi got things started in the third inning as well working a one-out walk. Drew Holderbach walked, and Vietmeier grounded out to the pitcher moving Yenzi to third and Holderbach to second. Brett Carson singled up the middle driving in both runner and extending the Pioneer lead to 3-0.
Alex Page drove in Carson with an RBI double and then came around to score on a single from Zach Boyd.
Pioneer starter Gino Sabatine (1-1) blanked the Dutchmen through the first five innings. Lebanon Valley finally got to Sabatine in the sixth. Mike Bulgia singled and moved into scoring position on a ground out. Dave Mangold plated Bulgia with a single up the middle. Shane Stossel hit a two-run home run off the left field foul pole chasing Sabatine from the game
Sam Mathews took over on the mound and slammed the door shut for his second save of the season. Mathews whiffed six of the 10 batters he faced and allowed just one hit in 3.1 innings of work.
Sabatine went 5.2 innings and gave up three runs on six hits. He struck out seven and walked three.
Kyle Kingsbury (0-2) started and took the loss for the Flying Dutchmen. He threw 3.0 innings and allowed five runs, four earned, on just four hits. Kingsbury walked two and struck out five/ Dylan Lower, Brady Frankland and Will Zimmerman combined for 5.0 innings of shutout relief.
Carson finished 2-for-3 with two runs batted in. Vietmeier and Page each had a double, while Yenzi scored twice.
Bulgia and Mangold each had two hits for Lebanon Valley.
Marietta plays a doubleheader against Swarthmore College Monday (March 7). The first game starts at 10 a.m.
Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.