COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Marietta College softball team swept an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader at Capital University Wednesday (April 20) afternoon. The two victories lifted the Pioneers into a tie four third place in the OAC standings with four games left to play. The top four teams qualify for the OAC Tournament.
Marietta scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning to pull out a 4-1 victory in game one. The Pioneers then completed the sweep with a 5-3 win in the nitecap. MC improves to 19-17 overall and 8-6 in the OAC. Capital slips to 14-18 on the season and 5-9 in league play.
Capital broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth inning of game one. Two singles and an error allowed the Crusaders to load the bases with no outs.
The Pioneers nearly got out of the inning unscathed as the next batter grounded to
Amy Castle (Columbus, Ohio/Groveport Madison) at third base who got the force out at the plate. Starting pitcher
Kristina LaRocca (Strasburg, Ohio/Strasburg Franklin) got the next Crusader to pop out to the shortstop for the second out. But a passed ball allowed Pam Vickers to score the first run of the game. A strikeout ended the threat.
Trailing by one heading to the seventh inning,
Brey Mays (Bloomingdale, Ohio/Indian Creek) led off for the Pioneers and reached on a walk.
Ariann Barile (Roaming Shores, Ohio/Jefferson) moved Mays into scoring position with a sac bunt.
Rebekah Finn (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) pinch hit for
Madison Gatley (West Jefferson, Ohio/West Jefferson) and reached on an infield single. Mays was unable to advance but MC had two runners on with one out.
Gatley reentered the game for Finn and her and Mays pulled off a double steal giving the Pioneers two runners in scoring position. Back to back perfectly executed squeeze bunts by Castle and
Stephanie Zentz (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) scored Mays and Gatley and put MC on top, 2-1.
Rachel Montgomery (Massillon, Ohio/Perry) would drive in two more runs with a double to left extending the Pioneers lead to 4-1.
LaRocca (7-4) retired the Crusaders in order in the bottom of the frame to secure the victory. She threw seven innings and allowed one unearned run four hits. LaRocca walked one and struck out two.
Amber Martinelli (7-7) went the distance in the losing effort for Capital. She gave up four runs on six hits in seven innings of work.
Kaitlin Klinchock (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, while Montgomery drove in two runs with a double.
The Pioneers took a 5-1 lead into the seventh inning of game two and hung on for the 5-3 win. Capital had the bases loaded when the game ended as
Alison Kach (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) earned her second save of the season with 2/3 on an inning of relief for starter
Jocelyn White (Gibsonia, Pa./Hampton).
White (6-7) got the win after working 6 1/3 innings and giving up three runs, one earned, on nine hits with three strikeouts. Kach allowed one hit.
Montgomery staked the Pioneers to an early lead with RBI single in the third inning. Finck and
Cierra Bloom (Dennison, Ohio/Claymont) each drove in a run in the fourth extending the Pioneers lead to 3-1.
Bloom added an RBI double in the sixth, while Barile plated a run in the seventh with a double to left.
The Crusaders tried to rally in the seventh scoring two runs on four base hits. A Pioneer error aided the comeback bid before Kach slammed the door shut.
Marietta's first three hitters in the lineup went a combined 7-for-11 and drove in four runs. Montgomery collected three base hits and an RBI, Bloom had two hits and knocked in two runs, while Finck had two hits and one RBI.
Marietta wraps up the home portion of its schedule on Saturday (April 23) when Wilmington College visits for a 1 p.m. doubleheader. 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.
