KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Head Coach Jeanne Arbuckle's squad continued to stay as hot as the Florida weather with a pair of victories Monday (March 8) afternoon at the Rebel Spring Games. The Pioneers, who improved to 4-0, recorded a 5-0 win against Dubuque (Iowa) in game one and then defeated Misericordia (Pa.) 9-4 in the nightcap. Dubuque fell to 0-6 overall, while Misericordia fell to 1-2 on the season. [Dubuque Box Score] [Misericordia Box Score]

Sophomore Megan Born (Delta, Pike-Delta-York) earned the win in the opener. Born (1-0) went four innings, giving up no runs on four hits with two strikeouts and two walks. Freshman Chelsea Chaffin (Wheelersburg, Wheelersburg) relieved Born in the fifth and picked up her first save of the season after striking out three without giving up a hit.

Junior Cassady Busellato (Hilliard, Hilliard Davidson) put the Pioneers up 1-0 with a single down the left field line to score freshman Katie Swejk (Tallmadge, Tallmadge) in the first. Marietta, aided by two costly Spartan errors, went up 3-0 in the second. Senior Maggie Daubenmire (Thornville, Lakewood Hebron) and Swejk both crossed the plate in the frame.

The Pioneers capped the scoring with two more runs in the fifth. Another Spartan error allowed Busellato to score from second and freshman Michelle Sayre (Ripley, W.Va., Ripley) to score from first.

Marietta finished game one with five runs on five hits and overcame one error. Dubuque finished with no runs on four hits and committed four errors. Busellato went 3-for-3 with a RBI and a run scored.

Marietta's bats came alive early in game two against Misericordia. The Pioneers batted around and plated six runs on six hits in the top of the first. Five different batters recorded a RBI in the inning.

The Cougars plated a run in the third to cut the lead to 6-1. Marietta added two in the fifth to take a 8-1 advantage. Sayre belted a triple to right field wall to bring home a run then scored on ground out. Misericordia came back with two runs in the bottom half of the fifth to put the score at 8-3 in favor of the Pioneers.

Marietta plated another run off a throwing error to push the lead to 9-3 after six innings. Misericordia scored its final run in the seventh but would not get any closer as the Pioneers closed out the 9-4 victory.

Junior Amanda Strong (Mineral Wells, W.Va., Parkersburg South) earned the victory in game two. Strong (2-0) went four and two-thirds innings, allowing three runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Chaffin came in with two outs in the fourth and finished the game. She allowed one run on one hit over the final two and one-third innings.

The Pioneers finished game two with nine runs on 10 hits and made two errors. Misercordia finished with four runs on nine hits with one error.

Sayre went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. Swejk, Busellato, Daubenmire, sophomore Lisa Stobierski (Euclid, Euclid) and senior Katie Woolf (Louisville, Louisville) all had a RBI in game two.

The Pioneers spring break slate will continue on Tuesday (March 9) afternoon in Kissimmee. Marietta will face off against Aurora (Ill.) at 1 p.m. then play Trine (Ind.) at 3 p.m.