Beatty Two-Run Walk Off Home Run Sends Marietta to Championship

It was a battle till the end for the second spot in the 2009 Ohio Athletic Conference Championship game. Marietta College’s Chris Beatty hit a walk-off two-run home run to give the no. 3 seeded Pioneers a 10-9 victory over no. 2 Otterbein College today at Peaceful Valley, on the campus of Heidelberg University.
 
With the win, Marietta improves to 29-14 on the year and will face no. 1 seeded Heidelberg in the championship game on Sunday, May 10 beginning at 11:00 a.m.  The Cardinals fall to 23-17.
 
After four innings of action, Otterbein and Marietta were deadlocked at 6-6. Otterbein retook the lead with a run in the sixth.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, Marietta took its first lead of the ballgame. Beatty hit his first home run of the game to tie the game and set up an eventual RBI single by Matt DeSico to give the Pioneers an 8-7 advantage.
 
Otterbein’s A.J. Barnes responded with a two-RBI single in the ninth to put the Cardinals on top 9-8. Beatty took charge in Marietta’s final at bat with his two-run shot.
 
Klye Lindquist threw the final inning for Marietta and picked up the win. At the plate, Otterbein and Marietta combined for 27 hits, with the Pioneers holding a 15-12 advantage. Beatty finished 4-for-5 with three runs scored and three runs batted in, while Brandon Gessner led Otterbein with a 4-for-4 outing.