MARIETTA, Ohio — No. 19 ranked Marietta College soundly defeated Wilmington College in an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader Saturday (April 15) at Pioneer Park. The Etta Express won game one, 18-4 in eight innings, and completed the sweep with a 16-0 win in seven innings in game two.
The Pioneers improve to 22-8 on the season and 7-3 in the OAC. Marietta is one game behind first place Baldwin Wallace in the conference standings midway through the OAC schedule. Wilmington falls to 11-18 on the season and 1-9 in the OAC.
Marietta belted three home runs and collected 17 base hits in the first game victory. The Pioneers sent nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning scoring four runs for an early 4-1 lead.
After scoring the first run on a wild pitch, Ty Davis drove in a run with a single through the left side of the infield. Cole Rieman drew a bases-loaded walk plating the third run of the inning and Kail Hill drove in the fourth run with a ground out.
Hill added an RBI single in the third inning and then lined a three-run triple off the wall in left center field in the fourth inning.
Alex Richter hit a solo home run over the wall in right center in the fifth for a 10-4 lead. Trent Valentine led off the sixth with a home run to right field. Brett Carson smashed a three-run blast down the left field line later in the frame.
Marietta added three more runs in the bottom of the seventh. Cooper Fiehrer worked a base-loaded walk and Cole Yeager lined a two-run double to the wall in right center.
Valentine (4-0) started on the mound and got the win working 6.0 innings. He allowed four runs, two earned, on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Gabe Torres closed the game with 2.0 shutout innings of one-hit relief.
Aaron Boster (3-3) started and took the loss for the Quakers. He allowed five runs on six hits in 2.1 innings. Boster walked four and struck out two. Caleb Fugate gave up 10 runs on eight hits in 3.1 innings, while Isaac Ross allowed three runs on three hits in 1.1 innings of work.
Rieman finished 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBI. Nick Bonnizzio, Richter, Carson, Davis and Hill each had two hits in the game.
Game two followed the same script as the first with the Pioneers scoring five runs in the bottom of the first inning. Marietta added four runs in the third, four in the fourth and three more in the fifth.
Valentine drove in a run with a base hit bunt in the first inning rally, Austin Amburgey plated one with a double and Rieman knocked in two more with a single down the right field line.
In the third inning, Bonnizzio laced a two-run double to right field. Hill followed with his first career home run as he launched a two-run blast over the wall in left field.
Bonnizzio and Hill struck again in the fourth inning. Bonnizzio delivered his second two-run double, while Hill drove in two runs with a single up the middle.
Amburgey hit his second double of the game in the sixth inning driving in a run. Rieman lined an RBI single through the left side of the infield and Matthew Busby plated another run with a ground out.
Hill (7-1) started and got the win on the mound. He worked 5.0 innings and allowed just four hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Yeager threw the final 2.0 innings giving up one hit.
Trent Mendenhall (2-5) started and got the loss for the Quakers. He was charged with five runs on six hits. Three other Quakers toed the rubber in the game.
Bonnizzio finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, four runs batted in and two runs scored. Rieman and Busby each had three hits, while Davis, Amburgey and Hill had two hits each. Hill drove in four runs.
Marietta travels to New Concord on Wednesday (April 19) for a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader at Muskingum University.