His shoulder hurts when he throws the baseball.

Yet Butler graduate Justin Papania pitches on. And opposing hitters are feeling more pain than he is.

Pitching through a form of tendinitis in his right shoulder, Papania has been one of the mainstays as a junior on the Marietta (Ohio) College pitching staff this spring.

The Pioneers (26-6 overall, 11-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference) are ranked No. 11 in NCAA Division III behind three starting pitchers from Western Pennsylvania - junior Mike Mooney from Shady Side Academy, sophomore Mike DeMark from Penn-Trafford and Papania.

"I start non-conference games during the week and pitch in relief in OAC games on the weekends," Papania said.

And he's doing so with stretched tendons in his pitching shoulder. An MRI was done on the shoulder during Christmas break and it was determined that Papania could pitch if he could stand the pain.

He chose that over the alternative.

"Surgery was an option, but I would have been shut down for three months, which meant no throwing all winter," Papania said. "I wouldn't have been ready come spring.

"It's just overuse of my shoulder that caused the problem. I get treatments and I'll have time to rest it later," he added.

Papania doubles as Marietta's quarterback in football. He threw for 1,620 yards and 10 touchdowns last fall, but the team dropped eight of 10 games and he was sacked 23 times.

"I was recruited here to play football," Papania said. "But I knew I was gonna play baseball, too. Both coaching staffs are great about it."

"We always worry about Justin's health coming out of football because that's a physical conference and he takes a beating," Marietta baseball coach Brian Brewer said.

Papania was 7-0 as a freshman at Marietta, helping the Pioneers reach the Division III championship game. An injury-plagued sophomore season saw those numbers drop to 1-2 with a 7.54 ERA.

"He never really got going," Brewer said.

This year, Papania is 5-1 with a 2.49 ERA. He has made five starts, four relief appearances and has two complete games.

In 43

innings pitched, he struck out 47 and walked only seven. No other starting pitcher on the staff has walked fewer than 28.

Papania has permitted only five extra-base hits - four doubles and a home run - all season.

"We're calling a lot of pitches from the dugout for him and that's helped," Brewer said. "Justin was pitching to a three-time All-American catcher his freshman year and had confidence in letting him call the game.

"He didn't have that last year and it threw him off, so we've taken over calling the pitches and it's made a difference," he added.

Papania said he's throwing his curve ball for strikes this season.

"That's my out pitch and I kept missing with it last year," he said. "This year, I'm spotting it well."

Papania also throws a two-seam fastball that tails away from left-handed hitters and moves down and in to right-handed hitters.

While he has exhibited consistent control, Papania has been able to limit the aggressiveness of opposing hitters.

"You do that by making the hitter move his feet," Brewer said. "You have no problem keeping hitters from digging in if you know exactly where you're throwing the baseball.

"It's not how hard you throw it, it's where you throw it. Justin's demonstrated that all season," he added.

At 6-feet and 200 pounds, Papania is not an overpowering pitcher. He just gets people out.

Marietta has only 10 lettermen back from last season and Brewer is in his first year as head coach. He was an assistant under longtime coach Don Schaly the past four years.

Schaly retired at the end of last season.

"We're playing on emotion a lot more this year," Papania said. "It's not so much raw talent as our desire to play the game.

"We're having fun. We believe we can win and we're optimistic about the post-season."

Pinpoint pitching

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Butler graduate Justin Papania has walked only seven batters this season for Marietta College, which currently is ranked No. 11 in NCAA Division III. Here are his numbers:

Wins: 5

Losses: 1

Earned run average: 2.49

Innings pitched: 43

Record last season: 1-2, 7.54 ERA