‘Etta Express three wins away from World Series | News, Sports, Jobs

Photos by Rebecca Wheeler
Marietta’s Drew Wilkinson attempts to start a double play during the opening round games of the NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament Saturday at Don and Sue Schaly Field. The Pioneers are two games away from the World Series.

MARIETTA — The Marietta College Pioneers split a pair of games Saturday in the NCAA Division III Regional Tournament at Don and Sue Schaly Field at Pioneer Park.

Now, their backs are against the wall.

The Pioneers (37-5) defeated North Carolina Wesleyan 6-4 in the first game of the day before dropping a 2-0 decision to top-seeded Rowan later on.

Marietta now will play Penn State-Behrend, which eliminated N.C. Wesleyan later in the day, at noon Sunday in an elimination game. If the Pioneers win, they’ll get another crack at Rowan at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. A win in that game would force a decisive game between the two teams on Monday.

“We’ve got to hit,” said Marietta College head coach Brian Brewer, who noted Nick Brown will start on the mound in game one Sunday. “When you get to this day in tournaments, you’ve got to have some offense.”

Marietta’s Sam Mathews delivers home during the opening round games of the NCAA Division III Baseball Regional Tournament Saturday at Don and Sue Schaly Field. The Pioneers are two games away from the World Series.

ROWAN 2, MARIETTA 0

Rowan left-hander Eli Atiya was dominant.

The Profs’ starting pitcher tossed eight shutout innings, allowing five hits and no walks while striking out five batters.

“He was excellent,” Brewer said. “He did a really nice job of mixing (his pitches). We had a pretty good report on him, but he still executed his game plan. He’s down with the breaking ball and you just don’t see that for an extended period of time. Usually kids get tired, something happens and they start elevating that breaking ball a little bit, and he just didn’t do that.”

Atiya (9-1) gave way to closer Zach Listro in the ninth. Listro walked Drew Holderbach with one out but pitched around it to earn his seventh save of the season.

“It starts all on the mound and Eli did a heck of a job for us,” said Rowan skipper Mike Dickson. “He was really, really good today.”

The only runs of the game came in the bottom of the fifth as Rowan chased Marietta’s Gino Sabatine. With runners at first and second and one out, MC’s right-hander plunked back-to-back batters to bring in a run. Sabatine then issued a free pass to Victor Cruz to make it 2-0, prompting Marietta to bring in Dylan Albright out of the bullpen. Albright got Alex Kokos to line out to center to prevent further damage, but two runs ended up being enough.

Marietta’s best chance to score came in the top of the third, as Drew Wilkinson hit a leadoff single but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. However, Kail and Turner Hill followed with back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third with one out. Atiya, though, ended the threat when he got Damian Yenzi to ground into a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play.

“That was definitely a momentum changer,” Atiya said. “That was what we needed to turn the game.

“If you give (Marietta) anything to hit, they’ve proven they’re very good. So, we were just locating in and out, getting our pitches that we want and the counts we want and just executing.”

Brewer regretted not being more strategical in that situation.

“I probably should’ve tried something there,” he lamented. “It was just early, and we’ve got our middle of the order guys (due up). Typically, this year we let those middle guys hit.”

Sabatine (9-1) went 4 2-3 innings, allowing two runs, two hits and a pair of walks. He had one strikeout. Albright and Griffin Malick combined for 3 1-3 innings of scoreless relief. Wilkinson had two singles to lead Marietta’s offense, which was shutout for just the second time this season.

“It comes down to the walks and strikeouts,” Brewer said. “Neither team did poorly, but we walked three guys and struck out two. They walked one guy and struck out five. In a game like this, that’s a big deal. We’ve just got to be a little better.”

MARIETTA 6,

N.C. WESLEYAN 4

Wilkinson’s two-run double in the sixth helped lift Marietta College to a 6-4 win over North Carolina Wesleyan in the first game of the day Saturday.

Trailing 4-3 going into the sixth, the Pioneers put up a three-spot. Zach Boyd led off the inning with a double and later scored from third on a Wesleyan error. Wilkinson’s two-bagger to right later in the inning drove in two more runs to give MC the lead for good.

“It was a crazy at-bat,” Marietta’s shortstop explained. “There was the one strike call that was maybe a little off the plate, but then I just kind of refocused and did my job and drove it right field. Wouldn’t be able to do it without the guys in front of me, too.”

Isaac Danford (4-0) pitched two shutout innings of relief to earn the win. Sam Mathews blanked the Bishops for the final three innings of the game to earn his eighth save of the year and the 17th of his career. That moved him into second all-time in program history in saves behind only Kyle Lindquist (28).

“I love pitching in the ninth inning,” Mathews said. “I love closing the game out. I feel like that’s where I’m best. That’s awesome that I’m (second all-time).”

Trent Valentine started for Marietta and went 3 2-3 innings. He allowed five hits, two runs, one walk and struck out five. Albright also pitched 1-3 of an inning.

Lefty Derrick Carter (8-2) took the loss for Wesleyan. He surrendered six runs (five earned) on nine hits with one walk and three punchouts. Daniel Thompson pitched 2 2-3 scoreless innings of relief.

Turner Hill energized the Pioneers early with a leadoff hustle double to right field. He came around to score on Holderbach’s two-bagger to make it 1-0.

North Carolina Wesleyan opened the top of the fourth with three straight doubles to plate two runs. Brad Pennington led off with one down the left field line before Jackson Hobbs found the left-center field gap to tie the game at 1-1. Davie Morgan gave the Bishops the lead when he smacked a two-base hit off the right-center field wall.

Marietta answered right back in the bottom half of the fourth. Logan Vietmeier led off with a single and went to third base on back-to-back sacrifice bunts. He touched home plate on Trent Castle’s double to right-center, and Castle was driven in on Jared Weiss’s single to left to make it 3-2, Pioneers.

Wesleyan took advantage of the first error of the season by Marietta catcher Brady Cottom in the fifth to re-take the lead. With runners at first and second and no outs, the Bishops attempted a double steal. Cottom’s throw to third sailed into left, allowing Drifton Padgett to score the tying run and Tyson Bass to get to third. Bass came in to score on Pennington’s deep sacrifice fly to center to make it 4-3.

“We’ve done it all season,” Brewer said of his team shaking off an early deficit. “It’s obviously something we talk a lot about. It’s what good teams do. Good teams answer, and answer quickly, and good teams win games late.”