MARIETTA, Ohio — Seniors
Alison Kach (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) and
Kaitlin Klinchock (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) powered Marietta College to a doubleheader softball sweep of Baldwin Wallace University Saturday (April 8) afternoon. The Pioneers won game one, 6-3, and took the second game by a 2-1 margin.
Marietta improves to 11-15 on the season and 3-5 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The Yellow Jackets slip to 8-12 overall and 2-6 in conference play.
While Klinchock accounted for four of Marietta's eight runs on the day, Kach picked up a complete-game win and a save in the circle.
Baldwin Wallace scored three runs off of Kach in the top of the first inning, but the left-hander settled down and allowed just two hits over the final six innings. Kach (6-6) tossed 7.0 innings and gave up three runs on five hits. She walked one and struck out six.
Marietta got on the board in the second inning when
Stephanie Zentz (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) doubled to the right field fence scoring
Lauren Rockocy (North Royalton, Ohio/North Royalton), who reached on a walk, from first base. Klinchock lined a solo home run down the left field line in the third inning to cut the BW lead to one, 3-2.
Defensive miscues by the Yellow Jackets led to a pair of unearned runs for Marietta in both the fifth and sixth innings.
After a BW error prolonged the fifth,
Alyssa Cook (Akron, Ohio/Ellet) hit an RBI single to right field and Rockocy followed with a sharp single off the third baseman's glove to put the Pioneers in front, 4-3.
Ariann Barile (Roaming Shores, Ohio/Jefferson) drove in
Ali Prologo (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield), who reached on an error, with a triple in the sixth inning.
Cierra Bloom (Dennison, Ohio/Claymont) followed with a single to center field knocking in Barile for a 6-3 Pioneer lead.
Sam Mott (5-5) started and took the loss for BW. She worked 4.2 innings and gave up four runs, two earned, on seven hits. Mott walked four and struck out seven. Erica Morgan threw the final 1.1 innings and allowed two unearned runs on two hits with one strike out.
Klinchock finished 2-for-3 with a double, a home run, two runs scored and an RBI. Barile and Cook also had two hits in the game for the Pioneers.
In the second game, Klinchock broke a scoreless tie with a deep home run over the left field fence in the fourth inning. Her third home run on the season.
Klinchock singled up the middle in the sixth. She advanced to second on a sac bunt from Barile and went to third on a ground out from Cook. She then scored on a wild pitch making it 2-0 in favor of the Pioneers.
Jocelyn White (Gibsonia, Pa./Hampton) cruised through the first six innings in the circle but ran into trouble in the seventh. With two outs, Hannah Albrecht reached on an error. Mott pinch hit and single up the middle. Erica English cut the MC lead in half with an RBI single to right center.
With runners on first and third, Marietta head coach
Jeanne Arbuckle brought Kach in to close the door on the Yellow Jacket rally. Kack struck out Alex Kozich to earn her first save of the season.
White (3-6) pitched 6.2 innings and allowed one unearned run on five hits for the win. She walked three and struck out two. Kach struck out the only BW batter she faced.
Morgan (2-4) started and threw 4.0 innings for BW. She gave up one run on four hits with a walk and a strikeout. Nikki Turner worked the final 2.0 innings and allowed one run on one hit. She walked two and struck out one.
Klinchock was the lone Pioneer with two hits in the game going 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs scored and an RBI. Bloom and
Brey Mays (Bloomingdale, Ohio/Indian Creek) each had a double.
Marietta travels to Granville Sunday (April 9) for a non-conference doubleheader at Denison University. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m. Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams 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.
