BEREA, OHIO -- The Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team lost twice to Ohio Athletic Conference rival Marietta College today (Saturday, April 25, 2009) at Pioneer Park in Marietta. The Pioneers won the opener, 8-6, and the nightcap, 23-13.
BW is now 17-17 overall and 7-9 in the OAC, while Marietta is 22-11 and 11-5 in the OAC.
In the first game, B-W jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Marietta countered with a seven-run bottom of the fourth inning to take the lead at 7-4 and added another run in the fifth to lead 8-4. The Yellow Jackets scored two runs in the top of the sixth to close to 8-6, but the 'Etta Express' held the B-W scoreless in the seventh to secure the win.
Highlighting the game offensively for B-W was senior two-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference first baseman Riley Kreisher (Conneaut/ Ashtabula Edgewood), who connected on a two-run home run in the first inning to boost his season total for runs batted-in to a single-season school-record of 52. It broke the previous mark of 50 that was set by Pat Shannon '03 in 2003.
In addition to Kreisher, junior shortstop Jimmy Martin (Euclid), senior third baseman Jake Gross (West Farmington/ Warren Champion) and sophomore leftfielder Ted Cowling (Streetsboro) all had two-hit games. Gross also scored twice, Martin had an RBI and Cowling had the first triple of his career.
On the mound, senior Academic All-OAC righthander Brandon Fredericks (Akron/ Copley) started and took the loss to fall to 4-4 overall. He pitched four innings, allowed nine hits and seven runs (all earned), struck out two Pioneer batters but walked five others. Junior Justin Novak (Strongsville) relieved Fredericks and pitched two innings, allowed three hits and one run (earned) and struck out two.
In the second game, Marietta jumped on top with five runs in the bottom of the first for a 5-0 lead and increased the advantage to 8-0 with three more in the second. The Yellow Jackets got on the scoreboard with a run in the top of the third, but the Pioneers came right back with two of their own in the bottom of the third to lead 10-1. Marietta then added to its lead with a run in the fourth and four more in the sixth to lead 15-1.
The Yellow Jackets then showed a never-say-die attitude and scored nine times in the top of the seventh to make the score 15-10. Marietta came back with a run of its own in the bottom of the seventh and B-W countered with a run of its own in the top of the eighth to make the score 16-11. The Pioneers then secured their sweep by scoring seven times in the eighth for a 23-11 lead.
Highlighting the second game, senior ESPN THE MAGAZINE Academic All-American CF Cody Kidd (Wellington) had three hits, scored four times, had a pair of doubles and a triple and drove home two runs. With his four runs scored, Kidd set a single-season school-record with 49 runs scored and a career record with 140 the past four years. He broke the previous single-season mark of 47 by Paul Farrah in 1988 and the previous career mark of 136 by former Academic All-America and Cleveland Indians farmhand Erik Young '89 from 1986-89. In addition, Kidd's fifth triple of the season gave him the school's single-season record.
Offensively for the Jackets, junior 2B Matt Rollins (Walbridge/ Milbury Lake), Gross, Kidd and Kreishereach had three hits. Kreisher also hit his 10th homer this season and had four more RBI to increase his seasonal record to 56.
On the mound, senior righthander Jim Jaskowak (Grove City, Pa./ Grove City) started and took the loss to fall 3-4 overall. He was followed to the mound by junior right Scott Luthman (Celina) in the second inning, freshman Colin Wright (Lorain/ Admiral King) in the fifth, freshman Bill Bostelman (Marion/ Harding) in the sixth, freshman Josh Scott (Strongsville) in the eighth and freshman Jono Susini (Twinsburg) in the eighth.
The Yellow Jackets return to action on Tuesday, April 28 when they host traditional rival Hiram College in a single, nine-inning game at 4:00 p.m. After travelling to play a single game at Notre Dame College (Ohio) on Thursday, April 30 at 2:00 p.m., B-W ends the season by hosting OAC foe Wilmington College in an OAC doubleheader on Seniors' Day on Saturday, May 2 at 1:00 p.m.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at (440) 826-2327 and via e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Nick Minerd by phone at (440) 826-2780 and via e-mail at nminerd@bw.edu. To contact Head Coach Bob Fisher, please call him at (440) 826-2182 in his office and e-mail him at rfisher@bw.edu. More information may be accessed on the B-W athletics page atwww.bw.edu/athletics.
