HIRAM, Ohio — Marietta College wrapped up the nonconference portion of its softball schedule with a split at Hiram College Sunday (April 17) afternoon. The Terriers scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to win game one, 4-3. Marietta salvaged the split with a 5-0 shutout in the second game.
The Pioneers are now 17-17 on the season, while Hiram moves to 9-19 overall.
Sophomore
Kristina LaRocca (Strasburg, Ohio/Strasburg Franklin) (6-4) fired a complete game four-hit shutout in the nitecap. She walked three and struck out two for her first shutout of the season.
Marietta grabbed the lead with a pair of unearned runs in the third inning.
Brianna Finck (New Lexington, Ohio/Crooksville) reached base on an error with two outs.
Cierra Bloom (Dennison, Ohio/Claymont) followed with a triple to right field scoring Finck and came all the way around to score when the Hiram outfielder misplayed the ball.
The Pioneers extended their lead with two more runs in the fourth.
Ariann Barile (Roaming Shores, Ohio/Jefferson) received a one-out walk.
Stephanie Zentz (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) then grounded back to the pitcher but all hands were safe when the ball was misplayed.
Amy Castle (Columbus, Ohio/Groveport Madison) singled in Barile for a 3-0 Pioneer lead.
Madison Gatley (West Jefferson, Ohio/West Jefferson) then reached on a fielder's choice as Hiram retired Zentz at the plate. Finck smacked an RBI double plating Castle with Marietta's fourth run.
Finck scored MC's final run of the game in the seventh inning. After leading off with a walk, she advanced to second and third on a pair of groundouts.
Kaitlin Klinchock (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) then delivered the two-out RBI single.
Hiram had base runners in each of the final four innings but LaRocca kept them off the scoreboard.
In the first game, Marietta broke a 2-2 tie with a run in the top of the seventh. Back to back errors in the infield gave MC runners at first and second with one out.
Brey Mays (Bloomingdale, Ohio/Indian Creek) singled to left field scoring Finck with the go ahead run.
The Terriers loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the frame. Nicole Hoy walked forcing in the tying run. Brittany Zajac smacked a walk off single for the 4-3 win.
Alison Kach (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) (6-6) got the loss in relief. She threw 1 2/3 innings and allowed two runs on two hits with a pair of walks.
Jocelyn White (Gibsonia, Pa./Hampton) started in the circle and worked five innings. She gave up two unearned runs on five hits.
Zajac (1-0) went the distance for her first win of the season. She allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out four.
Klinchock staked Marietta to a 2-0 lead with her seventh home run of the season. Klinchock's two-run blast cleared the fence in left field in the top of the first inning.
Klinchock and May each had two hits in the game for the Pioneers.
Marietta returns to Ohio Athletic Conference play at Capital University on Wednesday (April 20) at 3 p.m. Fans can follow the Pioneers all year long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
