BEXLEY, Ohio – The Marietta College softball team was eliminated from the 2013 Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament after going 0-1 on Friday (May 3) afternoon.
The No. 4 seeded Pioneers lost to top-seeded Capital University 3-2 in their first game and then fell to John Carroll University, the No. 2 seed, by the score of 9-3 in the losers bracket.
Marietta appeared to be on its way to an upset of the Crusaders as the Pioneers jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Junior
Hannah Tarski (Independence/Independence) worked a bases-loaded walk in the fourth inning, while senior
Ris McDaniel (Pickerington/North) laced an RBI single to left in the fifth.
Freshman
Lauren Larrick (Leesburg/Fairfield Local) started in the circle for the Pioneers and cruised through the first five innings limiting Capital to just one hit. The Crusaders cut the lead in half, 2-1 with a run in the bottom of the sixth in on a pair of base hits.
Following a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh, second baseman Brooklyn Staten reached on a fielder's choice as the Pioneers retired the lead runner at second base.
Designated hitter Sarah Nist singled up the middle to give Capital runners at first and second with one out. Katie Hurst pinch ran for Nist at first base. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position for pinch hitter Lacey Romero.
Romero hit a shot up the middle that went in and out of Larrick's glove scoring Staten with the tying run. The ball caromed to
Katie Swejk (Tallmadge/Tallmadge) at second base who tried to retire Romero at first. The throw was in the dirt allowing Hurst to race home with the winning run.
Larrick (10-7) took the loss for the Pioneers. She tossed 6.1 innings and allowed three runs, two earned, on five hits. Larrick walked two and struck out five.
Alyssa Patznick (18-4) picked up the win in relief. Patznicjk threw 2.2 innngs of no-hit, shutout softball striking out three Pioneers. Brooke Billings started and pitched 4.1 innings allowing two runs on five hits with a pair of walks and five strikeouts.
McDaniel went 2-for-3 for Marietta with an RBI. McDaniel also picked a runner off base from her position as the Pioneers' catcher.
Marietta squared off against John Carroll in an elimination game and immediately fell behind. The Blue Streaks ended up in the losers bracket after dropping a 5-0 decision to the University of Mount Union.
The Blue Streaks scored a run in the first, two in the second and then exploded for six runs in the third to take a 9-0 lead.
McDaniel got the Pioneers on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third. Left fielder
Michelle Kelley (Stow/Stow-Munroe Falls) led off with an infield single. Following a pair of outs, McDaniel ripped a deep home run that was just inside the leftfield foul pole to cut the deficit to 9-2.
Marietta added another run in the fifth on an RBI single from senior
Michelle Sayre (Ripley, W.Va./Ripley).
Rachel Byrnes (19-3) went the distance in the circle for the Blue Streaks. Byrnes threw 7.0 innings and gave up three runs on 10 hits. She walked two and struck out seven.
Sophomore
Alexis O'Hair (Maumee/Maumee) (8-6) was charged with the loss after working 1.2 innings. O'Hair gave up three runs on five hits with a pair of walks.
Freshman
Rachel Montgomery (Massillon, Ohio/Perry) went 3-for-4 to lead the Pioneers' 10-hit attack. Senior
Trayla Liles (Tollesboro, Ky./Lewis County) and freshman shortstop
Kelsey Kallenborn (Marshallville/Smithville) each had two hits in the game.
The Pioneers finish the season with a 21-17 overall record. Marietta says goodbye to five seniors as Liles, McDaniel, Swejk, Sayre and
Ali Keller (Wheelersburg/Notre Dame) finished their careers in the Navy Blue and White.
