Matthew Johnson runs down a Marietta base runner.

WOOSTER, Ohio – Pinch hitter Derek Wyman (Marysville, Ohio / Marysville) delivered a two-out single in the bottom of the 11th, bringing Matthew Johnson (Orrville, Ohio / Orrville) home for the winning run, as The College of Wooster made a series of comebacks to defeat Marietta College 11-10 during a battle of nationally-ranked teams Wednesday. Wooster came into the game ranked No. 7 in this week's D3baseball.com top-25 poll and Marietta was No. 15.

The Fighting Scots (20-3) had trailed 7-3 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, 9-7 going into the bottom of the ninth, and 10-9 heading into the bottom of the 10th, but managed to tie it up each time.

After Tanner Hall (Oil City, Pa. / Oil City) shut down Marietta (13-4) in the top of the 11th, stranding runners on second and third in the process, Wooster rallied one last time as the sunlight faded at Art Murray Field. Johnson earned a one-out walk, moved to second on Matthew Pierce's (Oklahoma City, Okla. / Casady School) sharp single to left, and stole third base on the same pitch a strike three gave the Scots a second out. On the very first pitch Wyman saw, he drove it cleanly up the middle for the game-winner, marking the third career RBI for the unlikely hero.

Behind by four going into its half of the seventh, things were not looking very promising for Wooster. Pierce led off with a four-pitch walk, followed by Shane Swearingen (Hilliard, Ohio / Bishop Watterson) reaching via a hit by pitch, and after one out, John Warren (New Castle, Pa. / Union Area) dropped an RBI base knock into left field – the first of a series of clutch hits for the senior third baseman. Next, Sean Kapren (Venetia, Pa. / Peters Twp.) singled home Swearingen to make it a two-run game, and two batters later, Stu Beath (St. Louis, Mo. / Avon Old Farms – Conn.) doubled to right field to even the score at 7-7.

A scoreless eight inning ensued and then Marietta, keyed by a leadoff double by Dan Jones and a bases-loaded single from Brennan Cribbins, went back ahead, 9-7, during the top of the ninth.

Warren led off the bottom of the frame with a double to centerfield and scored via back-to-back groundouts, still leaving the Scots down 9-8 with two outs and the bases empty. Beath walked to first on four pitches, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored the tying run when Matt Groezinger (Columbus, Ohio / Upper Arlington) slapped a single through the left side.

The 10th inning saw the Pioneers score once via a Tim Saunders leadoff single and John Snyder two-bagger, only to see Wooster extend the game one more time. This time, Swearingen, pinch hitter Zack Vesco (Pickerington, Ohio / St. Charles Prep), and Warren strung together back-to-back-to-back one-out singles, with Warren's plating pinch runner Chris Wood (Lebanon, Ohio / Lebanon). Marietta got out of the jam, though, pushing the game to the 11th.

Early on, it looked to be a pitcher's duel between the Pioneers' Mark Williams and the Scots' Matt DeGrand (Stow, Ohio / St. Vincent-St. Mary). They threw up zeros on the board through three innings, highlighted by seven strikeouts for DeGrand during that stretch.

In the fourth, though, Marietta took advantage of a couple of fielding mistakes by Wooster while grabbing a 2-0 lead. Two batters into the bottom half of the frame, the Scots tied it on a two-run homer by Beath.

The Pioneers constructed a four-run fifth inning for a 6-2 lead, and after Wooster pulled within three during the sixth, went back up by four in the seventh (7-3).

Hall picked up the win – the fourth of his career – after working the final 1.1 innings, striking out two along the way.

Beath, Pierce, and Warren were the key offensive players for Wooster. Beath was 2-for-5 with four RBI, Pierce reached base five times via a 3-for-4 day at the plate and two walks, and Warren went 3-for-5 with two RBI, with all of his hits and RBI coming from the seventh inning on.

Leading Marietta were Snyder (3-for-4) and Justin Merryman (3-for-6 with two RBI).

The Scots will be right back in action Thursday when they travel to Baldwin-Wallace College (8-9).