WESTERVILLE — Marietta College opened Ohio Athletic Conference play with a sweep at Otterbein Saturday in baseball action at Fishbaugh Field.

The Pioneers won game one, 14-1, and took the second game, 7-0.

Marietta improves to 4-10 on the season and 2-0 in the OAC. Otterbein falls to 1-14 overall and 0-2 in the OAC.

Austin Ziance (2-3) was masterful on the mound for the Pioneers going the distance in game one. He faced four batters over the minimum and was charged with one unearned run on just one hit. Ziance walked two and struck out nine.

After Otterbein took advantage of an error and a passed ball to plate an unearned run in the first, Marietta scored four runs in the top of the third and never looked back. Bradley Jones tied the game with a single through the left side of the infield and then Michael Ciavolella put the Pioneers in front with an RBI single to right.

Marietta added two runs in the fourth and two more in the sixth for an 8-1 lead. Ciavolella put the game away with a grand slam over the right field fence in the eighth. Thomson Babineau closed out the scoring with a two-run double in the ninth.

Nick Mealey (0-3) started on the mound for Otterbein and was tagged with the loss. He allowed eight runs on eight hits in 6.0 innings of work. Three other Cardinals toed the rubber in the game.

Jameson Embrescia went 3-for-3 with four runs scored to lead the Pioneer offense. Jones finished with two hits and four runs batted in, while Ciavolella had two hits and drove in five runs.

Four Pioneer pitchers combined on Marietta’s first shutout of the season. Luke Czarnomski (1-0) started and got the win. He pitched 6.2 innings and scattered four hits with two walks and nine strikeouts. Alex Dues, Josh Pedersen, and Jared Bees pitched the final 2.1 innings.

Maverick Rabe (0-4) started and got the loss after allowing two runs on five hits in 4.2 innings. The Cardinals used five pitchers in total in the game.

Ciavolella continued to swing the hot bat, launching a solo home run to right-center in the third inning. Diego DeCello had an RBI single in the fifth. Cooper Fiehrer made it 4-0 with a two-run double in the seventh. Bryce Bogan and Shane Rothlisberger knocked in a run each, while DeCello picked up another RBI on a bases loaded walk in the eighth.

Ciavolella finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored. Fiehrer and DeCello each had two hits in the game.

The Pioneers play at Ohio Northern next Saturday at 1 p.m.