Marietta Eliminates Presidents From NCAA Tournament
MARIETTA, Ohio – The second-seeded Washington & Jefferson College baseball team was eliminated from the 2012 NCAA Division III Mideast Regional after falling to top-seeded Marietta College by a score of 9-5 on Friday morning at Don Schaly Stadium.
The Presidents finished one of the finest seasons in W&J history with a school-record 36 victories, compared to just 10 losses. W&J reached the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the last four years under 10th-year Head Coach Jeff Mountain and earned the third tournament victory in team history Thursday, an 8-0 shutout of Wooster.
The Pioneers (39-7) advance to face the winner of Game 11, which features No. 3 seed Adrian and No. 8 seed La Roche, at 8:00 pm on Friday night.
Marietta led 2-1 after two innings, but broke the game open with three runs in both the third and fourth innings. W&J refused to give up and plated single runs in the second, fourth and sixth frames and added two scores in the eighth.
Mike Mulvey was credited with the win on the mound for the Pioneers. Mulvey went all nine innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on seven hits. He did not issue a walk and fanned three Presidents’ hitters. Sophomore right-hander Randy Risch (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) saw his record drop to 5-3 after surrendering five runs (four earned) in two innings, while walking four and striking out a pair.
Mitch Geers and Kirby Becker both collected three hits to lead the Pioneers offensively. Geers knocked in three runs, while Becker recorded one RBI and scored once.
After a four-hit game of Thursday, sophomore catcher Ronny Peirish (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) again led the Presidents’ batters, producing three hits in three at-bats. Peirish also knocked in a run and scored one run. He batted .667 (8-12) during the tournament.
