The Marietta College baseball team had fun Sunday, and nobody had more fun than designated hitter Todd Yoder.

With the game tied at five, and the bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning, Yoder slapped a 3-1 outside fastball past the glove of Christopher Newport University shortstop Ted Tignor to give the Pioneers a 6-5 win in the NCAA Division III Championship Series contest held at Fox Cities Stadium.

"That's the situation you always think about as a player, ninth inning and a chance to win the game in the world series," Yoder said. "That was fun."

Yoder's heroics would not have been possible had it not been for a solid pitching performance from Marietta College workhorse Trey Lamb.

The junior right-hander went the distance for the Pioneers giving up five runs on eight hits, striking out and walking five while improving his record to 9-1 on the year. The nine-inning effort was exactly what Marietta College head coach Don Schaly expected.

"We put him out there because we needed the innings out of him," Schaly said. "He would have gone out for the 10th, even though he was near 130 [pitches]."

A pair of runs in the top of the second gave Christopher Newport an early lead, but Marietta came back in its half of the frame with a two-out explosion capped off by catcher Joe Coakley's second grand slam of the season, to take a 4-2.

"He threw me about five sliders," Coakley said. "After the first one I just laughed and coach Schaly told me to relax."

"I saw one about letter-high and just got a hold of it."

A Pioneer score in the fourth put Christopher Newport down by three in the top of the fifth when the Captains finally got to Lamb.

Second baseman Adam Larson led off the inning by smacking an 0-1 offering to centerfield. With a 2-0 count on DH Jeremy Elliot, Larson stole second before Elliot flew out. He swiped third before left-fielder T.J, Jones struck out, bringing right-fielder Matt Turner to the plate. Turner worked the count even, 2-2 before drilling a slider that just barely cleared the scoreboard, a rough 450-foot estimate.

"Those two home runs were really the difference," Captains' head coach John Harvell said. "They had three on when [Coakley] hit his and we had one."

Christopher Newport starter Cliff Wester threw eight innings and faced two batters in the ninth before being pulled in favor of Jason Brown.

Wester was charged with tying and go-ahead runs, along with five walks and four strikeouts.

The Captains' lineup performed well, with three players - Jeremy Elliot, Chris Phaup, and Larson - collecting two hits. Turner and Phaup each drove in a pair of runs, as well.

Marietta collected nine hits, but it was Yoder and Coakley's only hits that were necessary.

The Pioneers (39-7-1) will advance to play the winner of the Eastern Connecticut State University-Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute game Monday.

Christopher Newport finished its season 36-15.

Written By Andrew Wagner
Photos By Lehigh Photo

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