No. 20 Marietta College used a little bit of pitching by committee and hitting by committee Wednesday to down the No. 14 Dension Big Red 9-2 at Don and Sue Schaly Field at Pioneer Park.

Five different Pioneer pitchers scattered 10 base hits and two runs and the Pioneers got at least one base hit from all but one of their starters as they broke open a close game late and rolled to the win in their final tuneup before Ohio Athletic Conference action begins on Saturday.

“We have been bit by the injury bug and some guys stepped up today that weren’t even originally going to play,” said Pioneer head coach Brian Brewer, mentioning that sophomore catcher Ty Davis and junior outfielder Matthew Green were both out with injuries. “That’s a really good win for us against a really good club and I thought all the guys including the ones who stepped in late played extremely well.”

Pioneer sophomore Zach Marzetz got the start on the bump before being relieved by senior Gino Sabatine and the duo found themselves locked in a pitchers duel with Dension freshman Will Rettig for the first half of the contest.

Marietta collected just four base hits against the 6-foot-5 inch Rettig before finally getting to the rookie by plating a single run in the bottom of the fifth.

Senior Kail Hill got things going with a single and moved to second on a throwing error by Rettig before scoring on an opposite field double to deep left field off the bat of junior Nick Bonnizzio.

After being blanked over the first five innings by Marzetz and Sabatine, the Big Red finally broke through themselves in the top of the sixth as they strung together four base hits to score twice and take a 2-1 lead.

Eric Colaco opened the inning with a single and was forced out at second on a ground ball off of the bat of catcher Charlie Glennon.

First baseman Noah Leib followed with another base hit and Brewer elected to replace Sabatine on the mound with freshman Josh Pedersen.

Pedersen got the second out of the inning when he got Jake Welsch to fly out harmlessly to center field.

Owen Wilson followed with a base hit up the middle but a great diving stop by Pioneer shortstop Matthew Busby kept the run from scoring and left the bases loaded with Big Reds.

Second baseman Josh Bohn jumped all over the first pitch thrown to him by Pedersen and dropped a base hit down the left field that plated two runs to give Denison a 2-1 lead.

As quickly as the Pioneers surrendered the lead they reclaimed it in the bottom of the sixth as they scored three times off of Denison reliever George Viebrook.

With one out in the inning Trent Valentine beat out a bunt and moved to second on a throwing error.

Catcher Ben Kaplin followed with a base hit and designated hitter Cole Rieman put Marietta College back in front when he tripled down the right field line to plate Valentine and Kaplin.

Third baseman Cooper Fiehner got the other run of the inning home for the Etta Express with a sacrifice fly to deep center field.

The Pioneers broke things wide open in the bottom of the seventh when they sent 10 hitters to the plate and scored five times to extend their lead to 9-2.

Key hits in the seventh for Marietta included a two-run double off the wall in deep left-center field by Valentine and a two-run single by Fiehner, his first knock as a Pioneer.

Brewer got a scoreless inning of relief from freshman Jared Bees and two from sophomore Jacob Rocky who struck out the side in the last of the ninth to close out the Pioneers 12th win of the season against five losses.

“Pitching-wise I’m not a big ‘opener’ kind of guy but there is something to be said for it and if we can come out and throw strikes it gives us a chance,” said Brewer. “We are starting to do the little things better and more consistently which is obviously going to help us win ball games.”

The Pioneers collected 14 hits in the game including three by Valentine and two apiece from Bonnizzio, Kaplin, Rieman and Hill.

Pedersen claimed the win for Marietta while Viebrook was charged with the loss for Denison who slipped to 9-4 on the season.

Brewer feels like his club has continued to improve throughout the non-conference portion of the schedule and have themselves prepared to open conference play beginning Saturday when they host Mount Union for a double header.

“We met as a staff on Monday and talked about some questions that we needed answered this week and this opportunity today gave us a chance to answer them,” said Brewer. “I like where we are…I think the confidence is there, obviously the skill set is there and the talent is there we’ve just got to continue to get better everyday.”