Road ends for Pios
Misericordia sweeps Super Regional from MC

Marietta College’s Alex Richter, left, dives for the ball as Misericordia’s Derrick Vosburg steals second base during Saturday’s Super Regional baseball game at Pioneer Park. Photo by Jordan Holland
At the end of the day, Marietta College just got outplayed.
The Pioneers had their 2023 season come to a close Saturday as they fell 6-2 to Misericordia in Game 2 of Super Regional play at Pioneer Park. The Cougars executed in every phase of the game to advance to the NCAA Division III World Series in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“Really exciting for our program,” said Misericordia head coach Pete Egbert. “The guys deserve a lot of credit. They competed their tails off all weekend long. Really pleased with our pitching performances. We got four pretty gutty performances this weekend out of our pitching staff. They held a really good offensive team in check. It starts with pitching and defense. I thought we defended really well all weekend and competed in pretty much every at-bat. It was a good formula for us.”
Despite losing seven starters and two of their top pitchers from last year’s World Series team, the Pioneers put together another strong run this spring. Ultimately, they fell two wins shy of a repeat trip to Iowa.
“I didn’t think we played well (Friday) or (Saturday),” said Marietta head coach Brian Brewer. “I thought (Misericordia) played exceptionally well. We got beat. How well they played was super impressive. They were certainly the better team this weekend.”
Playing as the visitors, Marietta missed a golden opportunity in the top of the first inning. The Pioneers loaded the bases with one out, but Cougars starting pitcher Max Oliver was able to escape the jam.
Garrett McIlhenney led off the ensuing half inning with a triple and scored on Derrick Vosburg’s single.
“To be able to get out of that first inning is huge,” Egbert said. “I thought when Garrett came in and hit that leadoff triple, obviously that changes the momentum right there. Seemed like we had action and activity on the bases pretty much every inning. Put the pressure on and tried to keep executing our offense.”
The Cougars added two more runs in the second. McIlhenney’s RBI single made it 2-0, and later with runners on the corners and two outs, Misericordia executed a double steal to make it a three-run game.
Oliver ended up pitching three scoreless innings. He countered four free passes by not allowing a hit. Tyler Leonard came on in relief to pitch the final six innings. He struck out four batters and did not issue a walk. He scattered nine hits and allowed just a pair of runs in the ninth inning to earn the win.
“My stuff was there,” the right-hander said. “My main goal was just to get ahead. As soon as I got ahead, I could use my best pitch which is my cutter. Once I got to use that pitch I knew I could do well against them.”
Leonard entered the game with a 3-0 lead. The Cougars stretched that lead in the bottom of the fifth thanks to back-to-back solo home runs by Joe Comins and Connor Maryniak.
“It was one of those pitches where you saw it and your eyes lit up. I knew a fastball was coming and I didn’t miss it,” Comins said of his third longball of the year. Maryniak followed with his team-high eighth bomb to make it 5-0.
“Every run in a game like this is important,” Egbert said. “I don’t want to tell you I was comfortable, because they’re so good offensively that they’re capable of coming back from that, but to go from (up) three to five is absolutely huge.”
Brady Madden tacked on another insurance run with an RBI single in the sixth.
The Pioneers didn’t go quietly in the ninth, as Alex Richter and Brett Carson each had an RBI single to keep Marietta alive, but Leonard eventually got a flyout to end the game.
Kail Hill started and took the mound loss for Marietta, going four innings with three walks, three strikeouts, three runs and seven hits allowed. Gabe Torres threw 1 2-3 innings of relief, surrendering three runs and two hits. Carson pitched the final 2 1-3 innings with two walks, a strikout and three hits allowed.
Marietta was held to just five runs over 18 innings of play.
“The left-left (matchup) was a concern coming in,” Brewer said. “I thought their right-hander came in and did a really good job. Their pitching, their defense, their offense, their coaching, their base-running, all phases, they played really well this weekend and they certainly deserve that trophy.”
Misericordia is headed the World Series for the first time since 2018.
“It’s every team’s goal to get to a World Series,” Comins said. “We put in a lot of hard work in the offseason and it’s definiely showing now.”
The game was played in front of another big crowd, as the attendance was listed at 390. That was a theme all season at Pioneer Park.
“We had some inconsistencies this year, but the thing that was consistent was the support of this community,” Brewer said. “It’s been consitent for 50, 60-plus years. It’s just amazing. I know our guys appreciate, I appreciate it, I think opposing teams appreciate it. Everybody wants to play in front of a full house. We are incredibly grateful to the entire Mid-Ohio Valley community, and not just filling the stands, but everything they do for our program.”
Jordan Holland can be reached at jholland@mariettatimes.com.