MARIETTA, Ohio – The Mount Union baseball team opened Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play with a split with #20 Marietta on the road Saturday.
Mount Union (12-5, 1-1) erased a five-run deficit late in game one to beat the Pioneers for the first time since 2019, snapping a 10-game losing streak against Marietta, by the score of 10-9. Down 8-3 going into the seventh inning, the Purple Raiders rallied with a five-run seventh inning. Mount had three doubles in the inning, including a two-run double off the bat of senior
John Razzante (Mayfield, Ohio / Mayfield), cutting the margin to 8-7. Junior
Andrew Witte (Mentor, Ohio / Mentor) scored the tying run on a wild pitch. In the ninth, Razzante showed up big again, this time with a two-out home run to right field. Senior
Eric Schilling (Stow, Ohio / Stow-Munroe Falls) added another run with an RBI-double. Raider sophomore pitcher
Chris Phillips (Elyria, Ohio / Elyria Catholic) (1-2) earned the win in relief, only allowing one run off one hit in four innings. The Raiders had 10 extra-base hits, including eight doubles. Razzante led the offense with a team-high four RBIs.
Marietta (13-6, 1-1) was in control of game two, scoring three runs in the first, one in the third, four in the fourth, one in the fifth, four in the sixth, and one in the eighth. The Pioneers won 14-4. Mount sophomore pitcher
Brady Hansen (Beaver, Pa. / Beaver Area) (3-1) pitched 4.0 innings, giving up eight runs off eight hits. The Pioneers only out-hit Mount, 15-14. The Raiders stranded 11 runners. Junior
Jaired Lehman (Monroeville, Pa. / Gateway) led the Raider offense, going 3-for-3 and a team-high two RBIs.
The Raiders are next scheduled to host Heidelberg in their home opener on Saturday, April 1 in a doubleheader. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
