MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College opened the 2022 season with a 7-2 loss to Christopher Newport. Three months later, the Pioneers defeated the Captains by the same score to win the NCAA Division III Regional and advance to next weekend's Super Regionals.
The Regional championship was Marietta's 23rd in program history and first since 2012 when the Pioneers won their sixth national championship. Today's victory also marked the 600th win at Marietta College for head coach Brian Brewer.
"I've been saying it all week to our guys. Christopher Newport is a really good team. They have some really good arms. We beat a very good team twice this week," Brewer said. "Super Regionals is a first for us. Anytime you do something in this program for the first time, you're doing a lot. We are super excited and really looking forward to it."
Both teams had early opportunities. Brett Carson got the start for the Pioneers (41-5) and challenged hitters early, barraging the strike zone. In the first inning, CNU's Justin Bowers took an 0-2 pitch to the opposite field to get on base and was followed up by a Daniel Elliot opposite field single. Carson then got Alec Reilly to foul out and Michael Martorano struck out to end the inning.
"When you're facing a lineup that has seven or eight seniors in it, and probably the best closer in the country, we knew our chances to score would be limited. We had to take advantage of whatever chances we had, and we didn't do it today," Christopher Newport head coach John Harvell said. "We knew our backs were against the wall with our injuries and our limited pitching. Jack gave us all he had on the mound, and we really battled at the plate, so I'm proud considering what we were up against."
The Captains (27-14) gave the ball to sophomore Jack Anderson (1-1), making only his seventh appearance of the year. On arguably the most important appearance of his young career, he got off to a pretty good start. Despite hitting two Pioneers, he got out of the first inning unscathed. He allowed a pair of two-out hits to Alex Richter and Drew Wilkinson in the second inning but got out of trouble by getting Turner Hill to pop out.
Carson again ran into some resistance in the third inning when Bowers walked and advanced to second on a passed ball. Elliot then singled to put runners on the corners with just one out. Carson was then able to pick off Elliot and get Reilly to fly out to get out of trouble again.
The Pioneers were finally able to break through in the third inning. Zach Boyd got a one-out single and Logan Vietmeier reached based on an error by the CNU shortstop. Drew Holderbach then had an infield single to load the bases. Trent Castle hit a shot deep in the hole on the left side. Jonathan Fisher tried to make an incredible play but threw wide of the mark at first base. Boyd scored on the hit and two more runs scored on the error, all unearned, to put the Pioneers up three after three innings.
The Captains broke through in the fifth inning. After a leadoff strikeout, Fisher doubled down the right field line and scored on a Connor Cline single. That forced the Etta Express to make a pitching change, putting Sam Mathews in the game. The move paid off as Mathews got Bowers to hit into an inning ending double play.
Marietta answered quickly in the bottom of the inning when Vietmeier led off with a towering home run off the scoreboard. Holderbach followed with a blast of his own and Castle's opposite field double forced CNU to a make a call to the bullpen, replacing Anderson with David Gingras. The righty reliever got Richter to fly out, but Wilkinson poked a single through the left side to drive in Castle, making the score 6-1 after five innings.
"Marietta is the standard for Division III college baseball," Harvell said. "You know what you're getting into every time you go up against them. I love to compete against guys like Coach Brewer. I couldn't be happier for him, and I told him that I hope he wins it all because he deserves it."
Both relievers settled down for scoreless sixth and seventh innings. Boyd added an insurance run in the eighth with a two-out solo blast. Mathews gave up a ninth inning ground rule double to Martorano, who eventually came around to score on a groundout. Other than that, Mathews (5-0) cruised through 4.2 innings, only giving up one run on two hits and striking out five, to notch the victory and claim the NCAA Division III regional championship.
Mathews has become accustomed to entering games in sixth or seventh inning, but today marked just the third time in three years that he has pitched more than four innings.
"I was fresh today. I had the day off, so I was good for whatever," Mathews said. "I felt I had a lot of downward action on my fastball and sinker today. After that first full inning, I made some adjustments, and I was good."
Mathews was named the Most Valuable Player of the Regional. He was joined on the All-Tournament team by Vietmeier, Holderbach, Wilkinson, Castle and Isaac Danford. CNU was represented by Brayden Hodges, Martorano, Elliot and Colin D'Arcy. The remainder of the team included Kalamazoo's Spencer Baldwin and Blake Bean and Mount Aloysius's Aidan Bell and Jeremy Iellimo.
The Pioneers advance to the Super Regionals next weekend and will face the winner of the Glenside Regional. Oswego State was leading Arcadia 4-1 in the fifth inning of the championship game when the game was suspended due to weather. It will be finished tomorrow. Super Regional host sites will be named by the NCAA on Monday.
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