MARIETTA, Ohio – The University of Mount Union took a pair of Ohio Athletic Conference softball games from Marietta College Tuesday (April 23) afternoon. The Purple Raiders took game one 9-0 and then won the nightcap 9-3.
Marietta falls to 20-14 on the season and 10-6 in the OAC. Mount Union moves to 20-11 overall and 10-6 in league play.
Mount Union senior pitcher Rachel McAninch was nearly perfect in the first game. She went the distance in the run rule shortened game facing one batter over the minimum. McAninch did manage the no-hitter and struck out five Pioneers while walking one.
The Purple Raiders scored one in the third and two in the fourth inning for a 3-0 lead. Mount Union sent 10 hitters to the plate in the top of the fifth inning exploding for six runs on five hits to lead 9-0.
Sophomore
Alexis O'Hair (Maumee/Maumee) (8-5) worked 3.1 innings in the losing effort. She allowed two runs on four hits with a walk and two strikeouts. Sophomore
Courtney Kerwood (Nashport/Tri-Valley) and freshman
Lauren Larrick (Leesburg/Fairfield Local) both threw in relief for the Pioneers.
Marietta's defense fell apart in game two as the Pioneers committed six errors that led to six unearned runs for Mount Union.
Three Marietta errors in the first inning allowed Mount Union to take a 3-0 lead. The Purple Raiders added another run in the second for a 4-0 lead.
The Pioneers finally got to McAninch in the bottom of the fourth inning. Senior
Michelle Sayre (Ripley, W.Va./Ripley) and freshman
Rachel Montgomery (Massillon, Ohio/Perry) each had run-scoring doubles in the inning as Marietta cut the lead to 4-3.
Defensive troubles struck again in the fifth in for Marietta. Two more miscues led to three more unearned runs for the Raiders and pushed the lead back to four runs, 7-3. Mount added two more in the seventh for the 9-3 final margin.
McAninch (12-8) went the distance for her second win of the day. She pitched 7.0 innings and gave up three runs on four hits. McAninch walked three and struck out 15 Pioneers.
Larrick (9-6) took the loss. She tossed 7.0 innings and surrendered nine runs, only three earned, on nine hits. Larrick walked one and had four strikeouts.
Marietta closes out the regular season on Saturday (April 27) with a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader at Baldwin Wallace University. Fans can catch the action live at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter.
