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Marietta 7, Ohio Wesleyan 5 (5/19/2002)

Marietta jumped to a 7-0 lead and held off a pair of Bishop rallies to defeat Ohio Wesleyan in Game 6 of the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional on Sunday in Marietta.

Marietta advances to the Division III World Series to be held beginning on May 25 in Grand Chute, Wis.

Pioneer starter Justin Papania, who pitched 4.0 innings of scoreless relief in defeating the Bishops in Game 1 of the regional tournament, again had Ohio Wesleyan's number. He retired the first 17 Bishop batters before junior second baseman Matt Fortuna (Strongsville/St. Edward) broke up the perfect game with a 2-out single in the sixth.

Meanwhile, Marietta had taken a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Brent Curtin was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Kevin May followed with a walk. Chase Brackley grounded into a double play, with Curtin taking third, but Dusty Childress singled to left to put the Pioneers on the scoreboard. Nate Brown followed with a double down the leftfield line to plate Childress.

Marietta hiked its lead to 4-0 in the third when Derek Pauley singled with 1 out, then stole second. Matt McLuckey followed with a drive down the rightfield line that went for a triple, just eluding a sliding attempt by junior outfielder Joe Loudenslager (Hilliard/Darby). Jay Coakley followed with a sacrifice fly to Loudenslager that scored McLuckey.

Ohio Wesleyan came close to getting on the scoreboard in the first 5 innings. Senior first baseman Drew Caravella launched a drive to left center in the second which Pauley hauled in with a fine running catch over the shoulder at the warning track. In the fourth, senior outfielder Shaun Rice (Dublin/Columbus Watterson) sent Pauley back to the warning track with a long drive, and Caravella ripped a long fly ball that backed rightfielder McLuckey up against the wall in the fifth.

Marietta added 3 more runs in the sixth. Curtin led off with a double and May followed with a grounder that bounced off junior shortstop Joe Deck (Waverly) for an error. Ohio Wesleyan nearly caught a break as the ball caromed directly toward the second base bag, where Fortuna caught it and tagged Curtin trying to return to second, but Fortuna did not hold on to the ball and all runners were safe. Brackley followed with a bunt down the first base line and eluded the tag of Caravella for a single, loading the bases with nobody out.

Junior righthander Shaun Burchett (Plain City/Jonathan Alder) came on in relief of sophomore lefthander Michael Myers (Columbus/Dublin Scioto) and retired Childress on a fly ball to right, with Curtin scoring to make it 5-0. Brown and Chris Sidick followed with walks to score May, and after sophomore righthander Andy Busch (Westerville/South) came in to pitch for the Bishops, Pauley executed a squeeze bunt to plate pinch-runner Brandon Beyerlein.

Ohio Wesleyan finally got to Papania in the seventh. Loudenslager led off the inning with a single up the middle and sophomore third baseman Tyler Mott (Grove City) followed with a single to right center. Papania then retired Caravella on a fly ball to right but walked junior catcher Bo Burnett (Powell/Olentangy) to load the bases. Junior catcher Mike Schultheis (Columbus/Watterson) grounded out to second, scoring Loudenslager with the Bishops' first run, and senior outfielder Michael Hershberger (Massillon/Canton Central Catholic) launched a ball over the rightfield fence to slice the deficit to 7-4. It was Hershberger's first homer of the season.

Deck then drew a walk and that was it for Papania, who was lifted in favor of Dan May. May then got the third out by retiring Fortuna on a checked-swing grounder to second.

The Bishops added a run in the eighth when Rice led off with a double that skipped off the glove of a fast-closing Sidick in left center. Loudenslager then flied out to right and Mott popped up to the catcher before Caravella blasted a drive that hit the warning track just to the left of the 410-foot mark in straightaway center. May then retired Burnett on a fly ball to left to retire the side.

Marietta then turned to Scott Stocker, who started Game 1 of the regional against Ohio Wesleyan, and he allowed a hit but worked a scoreless ninth inning to record a save.

Busch finished the game on the hill for the Bishops, working 2.2 innings of scoreless relief. He struck out 1 and walked 1.

Ohio Wesleyan was represented on the all-tournament team by senior righthander Curt Moenter, Caravella, Rice, Loudenslager and Mott.

2002 NCAA Division III Mideast Regional all-tournament team
P Curt Moenter, OWU
P Justin Papania, Marietta
C Jay Coakley, Marietta
1B Drew Caravella, OWU
2B Dusty Childress, Marietta
3B Brent Curtin, Marietta
SS Nate Brown, Marietta
OF Joe Loudenslager, OWU
OF Derek Pauley, Marietta
OF Shaun Rice, OWU
DH Todd Yoder, Marietta
Utility Tyler Mott, OWU

MVP Nate Brown, Marietta.