March 14, 2007

Final Stats

ABILENE, Texas - Hardin-Simmons' baseball team won its fourth straight game with a 10-4 win over defending national champion Marietta College, Wednesday afternoon at Hunter Field.

The `Etta Express jumped out to an early lead on a single, a ground out and two wild pitches in the first inning. HSU tied the game in the second inning when Michael Simpson walked and Ryan Stepp was hit by a pitch and both moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Danny Ruth. James Gage knocked in Simpson with a groundout.

Marietta scored a pair of runs in the second on a Tom Doty single and a Dominic Winters sacrifice fly. HSU tied the game in the third on a long home run by Brad Coleman to lead off the inning. Simpson had a single, Stepp reached on an error and Ruth singled to load the bases. Simpson scored on a wild pitch.

Marietta came back with a run on a Ryan Eschbaugh double in the fifth and HSU took the lead for good in the fifth with four runs. Coleman had a two-run double, Ruth had an RBI fielder's choice and Blake Koch had an RBI single.

Kyle Barton came in the fifth inning and got two outs with two runners on and then went 1-2-3 in the sixth and the seventh innings to shut down Marietta. Lance Johnson had two scoreless innings out of the bullpen in the eighth and ninth.

Simpson had a sacrifice fly in the sixth and Koch had an RBI single and James Gage scored on an error.

Dalton Rucker had one of his best outings of the year with five strikeouts in four and two-third innings of work. Barton and Johnson scattered four hits over four and two-third innings of work. Barton earned the win to move to 1-0 and Tyler Penwell took the loss for Marietta out of the bullpen.

Coleman had two hits and three RBIs and Koch had two hits and drove in two runs for the Cowboys. Winters and Doty each had two hits and an RBI for Marietta.

HSU is now 11-7 on the year and Marietta fell to 6-2. The Cowboys will host McMurry in American Southwest Conference action on Friday at 7 p.m.