MARIETTA, Ohio — Capital University beat Marietta College in both ends of an Ohio Athletic Conference softball doubleheader Wednesday (April 15) afternoon. The Crusaders won the first game 7-5 and took game two by a 6-1 margin. The Pioneers fall to 12-18 on the season and 5-9 in the OAC. Capital improves to 21-8 overall and 12-2 in league play.
The Crusaders scored twice in the first and third innings and build a 5-0 lead in game one. Marietta got on the board in the home half of the fifth inning.
Cierra Bloom (Dennison/Claymont) and
Sarah Mayo (Proctorville/Chesapeake) reached on walks.
Courtney Kerwood (Nashport/Tri-Valley) grounded out to the right side moving both runners up one base.
Rachel Montgomery (Massillon/Perry) followed with a two-out single past the first baseman scoring Bloom and Mayo.
Three Pioneers errors in the seventh led to a pair of insurance runs for Capital. The Crusaders led by five, 7-2, heading to the bottom of the seventh. But some control problems from Alyssa Patznick gave Marietta a chance at a comeback.
Bloom and Mayo walked once again, this time to lead off the inning. Kerwood singled to right field loading the bases with nobody out. Montgomery walked on four pitches scoring Bloom and brining the tying run to the plate.
Capital went to the bullpen and put Amber Martinelli in the circle. Patznick worked 6.0 innings and was charged with five runs on four hits. She walked nine and struck out nine.
Martinelli induced back-to-back groundouts from Caitlin Klinchock and
Ashlee Ireland (Carroll/Bloom Carroll). The Pioneers scored a run on each ground ball and trailed 7-5 with a runner on third and two outs. Martinelli got a third straight ground ball to secure the victory and her first save of the season. Patznick (8-2) got the win.
Alison Kach (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) (4-4) went the distance for Marietta. She pitched 7.0 innings and gave up seven runs, four earned, on eight hits. Kach walked to and struck out five.
Kerwood finished 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Montgomery drove in three of MC's runs.
LeAnna Cotton staked the Crusaders to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of game two with a towering two-run homer over the leftfield fence. Capital added another run in the second and two more in the fourth for a 6-0 advantage.
Marietta got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Klinchock laced a double to the fence in right center. Following a strikeout, Mays walked and Kach hit a sharp single up the middle scoring Klinchock. Capital starter Brooke Billings got out of trouble with an inning ending ground out.
Billings (8-6) scattered six hits and gave up one run in 7.0 innings of work. She walked one and struck out a pair of Pioneers.
Senior
Alexis O'Hair (Maumee/Maumee) (2-6) also went the distance. O'Hair tossed 7.0 innings and allowed six runs on eight hits. She walked two and struck out two.
Montgomery was the lone Marietta hitter with two hits in the game.
Marietta plays at Ohio Northern University on Saturday (April 18) at 1:00 p.m. Fans can follow the Pioneers all season long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
