MARIETTA, Ohio — Isaac Danford has been waiting for this moment since he arrived in 2018.
 
The fifth-year Marietta College senior, who has mainly been used as a middle reliever throughout his career, delivered a doozy on Saturday afternoon.
 
Danford allowed two hits and struck out eight over seven innings as the second-ranked Etta Express defeated Christopher Newport 14-5 in the NCAA Division III Baseball Regional at Don & Sue Schaly Stadium at Pioneer Park.
 
"With the defense behind me I'm confident that I can just attack the zone and they'll make plays behind me," said Danford, who improved to 5-1 on the season. "As long as I'm in the zone, I'm going to be getting outs. Being an older guy you kind of understand how important it is to just keep going out there when you are in a regional set up like this because you can save pitchers and that's just really key as you go later in the tournament."
 
Danford walked only one and allowed one run in his final inning. He was pulled after throwing 98 pitches and improving his season ERA to 2.25.
 
"I think over the last year, year and half I've made a lot of growth as a pitcher just being in the zone more consistently," Danford said. "Now I'm getting hot at the right time."
 
Brewer said Danford's performance is exactly what the Pioneers needed.
 
"Isaac was outstanding," said Marietta coach Brian Brewer. "He's been a five or six-inning guy since he got into the starter role and then we hand the ball over to Sam (Mathews). We didn't want to hand the ball over to Sam in the sixth or seventh. I think Isaac knew that coming in and we chatted briefly during the game. If he can plop that curveball in there for a strike it makes his fast ball that much better, and it's good to begin with. So, I thought he was exceptional."
 
With the victory, Marietta (40-5) advances to the championship on Sunday against the winner of CNU (26-13) and Kalamazoo.
 
The Etta Express' offense was equally impressive. Marietta pounded out 17 hits with 14 coming against starter Jay Cassady, who held the Pioneers to just seven hits and two runs in the season opener that Christopher Newport won 7-2.
 
Marietta's hitters greeted the sophomore left-hander with a run in the first inning and then a nine-run, nine-hit second inning that took 27 minutes and blew the game wide open.
 
"It was really fun to watch. I felt we were ready to do this," Brewer said. "We were super excited to come out here and watch these guys play today. We certainly didn't envision what happened today, but we're really glad it did. We're super proud of our guys. This isn't the first time we've done that this year against a really good team and a pretty good arm. I think it might be the most impressive of the big innings or big games that we have played."
 
Senior first baseman Drew Holderbach belted a two-run home run in the second inning, while senior catcher Logan Vietmeier, who went 3-for-4, had two hits in the inning. He said the Pioneers were excited to face Cassady again.
 
"We knew they were saving (Cassady) for us, so we had a little bit of vengeance coming into today, and I think we executed what we did," he said. "We feed off each other. I think I had two hits that inning and Brett (Carson) had two hits that inning. A lot of people had big hits and big RBI. It sounds funny because baseball isn't easy, but the more it happens the easier it gets. The more runs you score the more confident we were."
 
Vietmeier also had the best seat in the house as he caught Danford's gem.
 
"It was awesome. He's really developed over the last year and a half and this year's he's proved it," Vietmeier said. "He wasn't a starter at the beginning of the year and now he's 5-1 with a good ERA. He has a wicked curveball and fast balls are very good. I wouldn't want to be catching anyone else in that moment."
 
Danford, who struck out the first three batters to start the game, enjoyed the nine-run inning but he had to stay focused and ready to pitch.
 
"Toward the end of that inning I started to move around a little more," said Danford, who tossed a career-high 98 pitches. "I think the biggest thing for me was those are some big exciting moments, so I make sure I could keep my heart rate down and stay focused because I knew I would need to go out there and throw up some zeroes."
 
Leading 10-0, Marietta's offense added another run in the fourth and three more in the fifth.
 
"Offensively we were really good," Brewer said. "It was a really good indication of what we try to do offensively. When we get into advantage counts we want to put advantage swings on the ball. That is how we draw it up. That is definitely what we're trying to do offensively and I thought our guys were outstanding."
 
Marietta's Turner Hill went 3 for 4 with two RBI and two runs, while Carson went 3 for 4 with two RBI and a run. Alex Richter added two hits in the win.
 
CNU junior Ethan Weaver, who entered the game in the eighth inning, doubled off Griffin Malick and did it again in the ninth off Dawson Pierce.
 
The Pioneers are one victory away from advancing to next week's Super Regional.
 
"The biggest advantage to being in the winner's bracket is rest, and I think our guys will be very responsible in the way they handle themselves and what they do to their bodies tonight to make sure they come out here ready to go," Brewer said.