SOMEWHERE ON I-77 SOUTH — The sense of pride and support for the magical run by this year's Marietta College men's basketball squad has been evident with the sold out crowds, signs in downtown shop windows and with tons of alumni calls and e-mails flooding Head Coach Jon VanderWal's inbox on a daily basis. But one of the most impressive displays of support took place Friday (Mar. 4) evening somewhere near the West Virginia and Virginia border on a charter bus carrying the Marietta College softball team to its annual spring break location of Kissimmee, Florida.

During #11 Marietta's 67-62 victory over #25 Centre College in the first round of the 2011 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament, Head Softball Coach Jeanne Arbuckle's team huddled together watching the magic happen on a tiny 15-inch laptop computer. One of the Pioneer softball players had a free wifi connect card, which made viewing the live online stream possible on the 55-passenger charter bus as it traveled south on Interstate-77 toward its destination.

In what turned out to be a tight contest, every make and miss was evident from the cheers and groans coming from the back of the bus. Every two minutes or so, a score update was yelled to the front of the bus, which kept coach Arbuckle and her staff apprised of what was happening inside Ban Johnson Arena. The softball team erupted one last time as it witnessed the men's team hold on for the five-point victory.

“Once people found out that one of the girls had the game live, we turned off the movie that was playing so we could all hear what was going on,” junior pitcher #Megan Born (Delta/Pike-Delta-York)# said. “Girls were standing on seats and sitting on people's laps trying see what they could of the game. A lot of us have followed the team throughout the season, so it was hard to leave for such a big game. We wanted to show out support in anyway we could. I can't wait to watch again tonight.”

Coach Arbuckle's team will open its 2011 campaign Sunday (Mar.6) afternoon with games against the College of Mount St. Joseph at 3 p.m. and Albion (Mich.) College at 5 p.m.