Marietta, OWU Advance to Final Day of Wooster Regional

Matt Barnes

STRONGSVILLE, Ohio – The College of Wooster staved off elimination once on Friday, behind the pitching of freshman Matt Barnes (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Langley), but couldn’t do it twice, as Marietta College knocked out the top-seeded Fighting Scots 6-3 in the day’s final game, and in doing so, advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Div. III Baseball Regional Tournament at Mills Field.

The Pioneers (31-14), the No. 4 seed, will face fifth-seeded Ohio Wesleyan University (26-15), which knocked out Hope College 6-5 earlier Friday, at noon on Saturday. An Ohio Wesleyan win would force a “second” championship game Saturday at approximately 3:30 p.m.

Before Marietta eliminated Wooster (42-7) Friday night, the Scots edged past Otterbein College 3-2 in Friday’s first game, which ended the No. 2 seed’s season. Leading the way was Barnes, who went the first seven innings, and John Quimby (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Allegheny), who belted a two-run homer over the left field fence in the seventh inning to overcome a 2-1 deficit.

Otterbein (32-13) had taken the lead for the first time its previous at bat, when Brian Hiscox drove in a pair, fisting a double just over the third baseman and just inside the left field line, and it appeared that the Scots’ inability to take advantage of runners in scoring position several times earlier in the game would come back to haunt them. Wooster had scored once in the third on a Sheldon Steiner (Dalton, Ohio / Central Christian) single, which plated Shaun Swearingen (Hilliard, Ohio / Bishop Watterson), who had a leadoff double, however, the Scots stranded a runner on third base five of the first six innings, keeping the game close.

Then, in the seventh, Sean Karpen (Venetia, Pa. / Peters Township) beat out a slow roller to the second baseman for an infield hit, and on the very next pitch, Quimby delivered his seventh home run of the season.

Barnes pitched the bottom of the seventh before giving way to Mark Miller (Convoy, Ohio / Crestview), who closed out the Cardinals relatively easily during the eighth and ninth, allowing just one base runner on a walk. Barnes picked up the win (9-1), with just one of the two runs coming across being earned, and he gave up seven hits and two walks while striking out six. Miller notched his eighth of the year.

Quimby walked twice, in addition to his home run, while Steiner was 3-for-5 to lead Wooster’s offense.

For Otterbein, Bobby Wright was the tough-luck loser (3-2), scattering 12 hits and three walks for the most part as just three runs came in, while Chris Kovanda and Hiscox each went 2-for-4.

In game two Friday, the Battling Bishops burst out to leads of 4-0 and 6-1, highlighted by a Brent Wilkins’ solo home run and a Logan Hronis two-run-double during the third inning. Hope (29-13), the third seed, pulled back within three (6-3) via a two-run sixth, and then the Flying Dutchmen made things very interesting in the ninth.

That frame, four of Hope’s first five reached safely, scoring one and loading the bases in the process. Then, a 3-1 groundout plated another run and moved the other runners to second and third. Ohio Wesleyan was forced to switch pitchers due to a second visit to the mound, but despite the unexpected mound duty, Matthew Struble struck out the final batter for his second save.

Bishop starter Joey McDaniel was the winning pitcher (1-1). He totaled 5.1 innings, with two earned runs (three total) being credited to him on four hits and three walks, while Hronis led all offensive players, producing a 3-for-5, 2-RBI outing. Wilkins also drove in two during a 2-for-4 effort.

Matt Richardson, the Flying Dutchmen’s starter, suffered some bad luck, as three of Ohio Wesleyan’s six runs were unearned. He pitched 6.2 innings, allowing 10 hits and a walk, compared to three strikeouts. Matt Sattler (2-for-4), Scott Sommavilla (2-for-4), and Joey Goeb (2-for-3) each had a pair of hits.

After throwing 103 pitches against Otterbein, Barnes was given the ball to start the Marietta game, too. He performed well, but the Pioneers were able to string just enough hits together to knock him out during the fourth inning. In all, Barnes gave up three earned runs (four total) on six hits and two walks, while raising his pitch count on the day to 176.

Marietta steadily built a 6-0 lead, putting two on the board in the second, fourth, and fifth, with the key hit coming in the fifth when Joe Litke drove in two on a two-out single to center after Wooster appeared to have escaped a bases loaded jam with a 1-2-3 double play the previous at bat.

The Scots did not go down without a fight, as they finally got to Pioneer starter Nate Eschbaugh, cutting the lead in half during the top of the seventh, thanks in large part to back-to-back doubles by Justin Thomas (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shady Side Academy) and Oliver Enos (Charlottesville, Va. / The Covenant School). It was Thomas’ second two-bagger of the game.

In the eighth, Wooster managed a pair of base runners with two outs, but reliever Tyler Penwell averted further trouble via an infield pop-up, and the Scots went quietly in the ninth as their first 40-win season since the 1998 campaign came to a close.

Eschbaugh gave Marietta a third quality start during the regional. He was lifted after the seventh, with the three Wooster runs coming on six hits and a walk, while improving to 5-2 and striking out six. Penwell tossed two hitless innings en route to his first save.

Besides Thomas, the only players to have multi-hit games were in Pioneer uniforms, highlighted by Litke’s 3-for-4, 2-RBI performance.