Top-ranked Marietta puts Panthers one game from elimination

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. - The No. 1-ranked Marietta College baseball team proved exactly why it is the favorite to win the NCAA Division III baseball championship on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers handed Chapman University its first defeat of the postseason 9-4 at Fox Cities Stadium, sending the Panthers to an elimination game on Sunday.

Chapman (34-12) will face local favorite Wisconsin-Whitewater (37-12) on Sunday at 12 p.m. (CDT) with the season on the line for both teams. Whitewater staved off elimination on Saturday with a 8-3 win over Western New England.

Marietta controlled the game from the second inning on, scoring a pair of runs in the top half of the inning and never trailing. After a quiet first inning for both teams, the Pioneers led off the second with a single, RBI triple and run-scoring groundout to take a 2-0 lead.

The Panthers cut that in half with an unearned run in the third thanks to one of four Marietta errors in the game.

Trailing 4-1 in the sixth, Chapman rallied with one out. Freshman IF Mark Saatzer singled and senior IF Tyler Hadzinsky followed with a double to put runners on second and third. But Marietta RHP Austin Blaski worked out of the jam and kept the Panthers from scoring.

Chapman finally broke through in the seventh on a two-out RBI single by junior DH Steve Greenberg to make the score 4-2, but that was as close as the Panthers would get against Blaski. The All-American Pioneer pitcher allowed just four hits and struck out eight over seven innings to earn the win.

Things got out of hand for Chapman in the ninth, already trailing 5-2. The Pioneers struck for four runs in the top of the inning, chasing Panthers' senior RHP Jordan Sigman from the game. Sigman, Chapman's all-time wins leader, lost for just the third time this season.

The Panthers rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth, thanks to another RBI from Greenberg who finished 2-for-4 with two RBI. Sophomore OF James Parr also went 2-for-4 with a double and run scored.

Chapman has never beaten Whitewater in two previous championships meetings. In fact, the Warhawks eliminated the Panthers from the 2008 playoffs with a 7-4 win in their last matchup three years ago.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2010-11/boxscores/20110528_mmgx.xml
NCAA Tournament Page: http://www.ncaa.com/sports/baseball/d3