GRANVILLE, Ohio (April 13, 2023) – The No. 13 Denison University baseball team scored five runs on five hits in the first inning, but that was nothing compared to 10 runs on 10 hits for No. 19-ranked Marietta College in the fifth inning as the Pioneers defeated the Big Red by a final score of 15-12 on Thursday evening at the Big Red Baseball Field.

Freshman Will Rettig got up 0-2 on each of Marietta's three hitters in the first inning, but needed 23 pitchers to get through the 1-2-3 frame.

On the other side of the coin, Marietta's freshman starting pitcher, Braden Shepherd, fell behind 3-0 before issuing a leadoff walk to Matt McClements in the bottom of the first. Then on the first pitch of the next at bat, Eric Colaco sent a ball over the scoreboard in left field to make it 2-0 Big Red.

Denison added three more runs in the first inning as four straight singles by Noah Leib, Jake Welsch, Josh Bohn and Ari Fierer made it 4-0. Then a double steal by Bohn and Fierer on a strikeout for out number two led to an errant throw by the Marietta catcher at second base, allowing Bohn to score on what was the third error of the opening inning by the Pioneers.

Just like he did in the first inning, McClements led off the second inning with a walk, this time on just four pitches, and then moved to second base on a wild pitch by Shepherd before Colaco sent a 3-0 pitch straight up the middle and into center field to easily score McClements from second base.

Colaco proceeded to steal second base and then with one out moved to third base on a wild pitch before coming home on an RBI-double to the left center field gap by Leib to make it 7-0 Big Red.

Marietta got on the board in the top of the third inning before Patrick Neenan got a 4-6-3 double play to strand a runner in scoring position, and then in the top of the fourth inning, the Pioneers got a leadoff triple and scored again to make it 7-2 before Welsch made a diving catch in right center field to record out number three and a strand another runner in scoring position.

However, in the fifth inning, Marietta kept its comeback attempt going with a two-run double off of Jaden Cole before recording eight straight hits and seeing each of its first nine batters of the inning reach base to take the lead at 9-7.

In all, the Pioneers finished with 10 runs on 10 hits in the fifth inning to take a five-run lead (12-7), and then a 6-4-3 double play stranded a runner in scoring position for the Big Red in the bottom half of the inning.

Both Cole and George Viebrock (4-2) finished with five runs allowed in the fifth inning while Marietta's Josh Pederson and Gino Sabatine righted the ship for the Pioneers in relief of Shepherd.

Despite all that, Denison still had four innings to chip away at what became an eight-run deficit (15-7) after five and a half innings.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, a one-out double down the left field line by Charlie Glennon led to back-to-back two-out RBI-singles by Bohn and Fierer.

Then in the seventh, Owen Wilson led off with a double down the left field line of his own and scored from third base after the throw down to second on a steal by Colaco. Colaco then stole third and scored on a triple to right center field by Glennon, who then crossed home plate on a groundout to second base by Leib to get the Big Red to within three at 15-12.

After Michael Gray pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning, Jacob Pendergraft entered with two outs and two runners on in the top of the eighth inning and got a swinging strikeout on a 2-2 count to keep Denison within striking distance in the late innings.

In the end, Denison threw out nine different pitchers to the mound, finishing with Fierer moving in from third base to toss the third 1-2-3 inning of the game for the Big Red in the ninth.

In the bottom of the ninth, Glennon hit his third extra-base hit of the day with a two-out double to left center field, but the Big Red were unable to do anything with it.

Glennon finished 3-for-6 while Fierer was 3-for-4 and Colaco was 2-for-4 with three RBI's, three runs scored, three stolen bases and a home run.

In what was a matchup between two teams both looking for their 20th win of the season, Denison fell to 19-6 overall on the season and suffered its first loss at home at 6-1 while Marietta improved to 20-8.

Now, Denison will turn its attention to the College of Wooster, which will travel to Granville to play the Big Red starting at 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 15.