The Marietta College men’s golf team celebrates after winning the Grove City MBA Invitational on Monday. (Photo Provided)

GROVE CITY, Pa. — The Marietta College men’s golf team won its second tournament of the school year taking top honors at the Grove City MBA Invitational Monday afternoon.

Held on the par-72 Grove City Country Club course, the Pioneers edged Washington & Jefferson by two strokes for the victory.

“I thought the Grove City tournament win was a big boost for the team heading into the OAC tournament. The team has been playing very consistently for the last couple of weeks,” Marietta head coach John Badgley said. “Each tournament we set a team goal of 300. Grove City Country Club is a challenging course, and our team score was 305. I’m very pleased with the consistency the guys are playing with at this time of year.”

The Pioneers carded a team score of 305, two shots better than Washington & Jefferson’s 307. St. Vincent placed third with a score of 319, followed by Grove City (320), Pitt-Greensburg (327), Thiel (327), Clarion (330), Geneva (339), Westminster (339), and Penn State-Shenango (351).

Individually, there was a three-way tie atop the leaderboard at 3-over-par 75. Washington & Jefferson’s Sean Clark and Grove City’s Luke Gronbeck and Nathan Young all carded 75’s on the day.

Marietta had three players finish right behind the leaders. Aidan Houghton, Andrew Korner, and Kelson McCurdy all tied for fourth with rounds of 76. Zach Huscusson carded a 77 and finished tied for seventh. Mason Jackson was the Pioneers’ final scoring player, and he finished with a score of 101.

Three Pioneers played in the tournament as individuals. Jeremiah Fizer tied for 18th with a score of 79. Hunter Wilson shot an 83, while Mason Reville fired a round of 91.

Marietta will finish the season at the Ohio Athletic Conference Championship this Friday-Sunday at River Greens Golf Club.

BASEBALL

Marietta College lost a nonconference baseball game to No. 1 ranked Denison Monday evening at Pioneer Park by the score of 8-4.

The loss drops Marietta to 8-18 on the season while Denison improves to 28-2 overall.

The Big Red jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and extended the margin to 8-0 by the fifth inning. Shortstop Kelly Crittenberger got things started with a two-run single up the middle in the top of the first. Erik Sundgren made it 3-0 with an RBI single in the second.

Denison added four runs in the fourth and one more in the fifth for an 8-0 lead. Jack Lutte drove in the first run of the fourth inning with a fielder’s choice. He added a second RBI with a sac fly in the fifth.

Marietta got on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning. Diego DeCello hit a deep fly ball to right field where Denison outfielder Nate Lloyd got a glove on the ball at the same time he slammed into the wall at full speed. The ball dropped to the ground allowing DeCello to circle the bases for an inside the park home run.

The Pioneers added three more in the eighth inning. Luke Jarzynka was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Bryce Bogan followed with a pinch hit double down the left field line driving in two runs.

Denison sent 11 different pitchers to the mound in the game. Mahoney Daunic (3-0) started and got the win. He worked 2.0 shutout innings allowing two hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

Marietta used eight pitchers. Cameron Birch (0-1) started and got the loss. He allowed two runs on three hits in 1.0 inning. Brayden Wells threw 2.2 innings and gave up one run on four hits, while Nate Holowka tossed 2.0 shutout innings with four strikeouts.

Bradley Jones led the Pioneer offense going 3-for-5. DeCello had the home run, while Bogan and Shane Rothlisberger each had a double.

Marietta hosts No. 11 Mount Union at 4 p.m. today.

SOFTBALL

Marietta College’s Katie Sweeney was named the Ohio Athletic Conference Softball Hitter of the Week Monday afternoon by the league office. This is the first time in her career she has received the weekly honor.

Sweeney hit an astounding .889 for the week collecting eight hits in nine at bats, also compiling a 1.556 slugging percentage. In Marietta’s win in game one of a doubleheader with Baldwin Wallace last Saturday, Sweeney went 5-for-5 with two doubles and four runs batted in. She followed that in game two by going 3-for-4, with a home run, another double, and three RBI.

Sweeney currently leads the Pioneers with four home runs and is second on the club with a .396 batting average.

Marietta travels to battle No. 18 ranked Mount Union on Wednesday for a doubleheader with a first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.