KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Marietta College softball team split a pair of games on Monday (March 11) against Beloit College and Haverford College. The Pioneers won game one, 16-4, against Beloit but fell in game two 5-1 to Haverford. With the split Marietta is now 3-1 overall on the season.
Head Coach
Jenn Castle said, "In game one our hitters were attacking the ball and being aggressive in the box. In game two we watched to many pitches go by and got into bad hitters counts".
Marietta jumped on Beloit early with a five run top of the first inning.
Alyssa Cook (Akron, Ohio/Ellet) and
Maicy Kirk (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy Orange) got the inning started with back to back singles and a walk from
Jordan Pallay (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Bradley) loaded the bases.
Ashton Helmke (Defiance, Ohio/Tinora) singled up the middle and plated both Cook, and Kirk. After Kalya Alderson reached on a fielder's choice,
Erin Miller (Woodsfield, Ohio/Monroe Central) drove home Pallay with a single. The Pioneers kept the inning rolling with back to back RBI singles from
Lauren Rockocy (North Royalton, Ohio/North Royalton) and
Ashley Tschudy (New Philadelphia, Ohio/Indian Valley), to put Marietta up, 5-0.
The Buccaneers drove in a run in the bottom half of the first inning, but the Pioneers answered with three runs in the top of the second. The Marietta runs came from a pair of home runs. Pallay hit the first Pioneer homerun of the season over the left field fence and later in the inning Miller hit a two run homerun to provide Marietta an 8-1 advantage.
After three scoreless innings, Beloit broke the drought with a run in the bottom of the sixth, to cut the Pioneers edge to 8-2. Marietta answered back in the seventh when Pallay and
Mackenzie Marshall (Sardis, Ohio/River) each got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Later in the inning Alderson and Miller had back to back RBI singles, and a two run single from pinch hitter
Megan Gummere (Granville, Ohio/Granville), put the Pioneers 15-2.
Britnee Kail (Dover, Ohio/Dover) capped the eight run seventh, with an RBI double to right centerfield, to make the score 16-2.
The Buccaneers plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Marietta won the game 16-4.
Maddi Liston (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central) started the game in the circle for the Pioneers and pitch five and a third innings. She allowed two earned runs on six hits, had a strikeout in the game, and earned her first win on the season.
Jackie Mulvain (Warren, Ohio/Champion) pitched 1 and two-thirds innings of relief work, and allowed two runs on three hits.
Game two saw the Fords jump out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Haverford tacked on two more runs in the second and held a 4-0 edge. Marietta got on the board in the third inning when Pallay singled home Rockocy, who singled to lead off the inning.
The Fords scratched across a run in the top of the seventh inning and won the game, 5-1.
Airyanna Maurer (Marysville, Ohio/Marysville) pitched 5 and a third innings in relief. She allowed one run, on four hits, and struck out four.
The Pioneers will return to action Tuesday (March 12) when they battle with Plymouth State University and Carnegie Mellon University, with game one scheduled for 9:30 a.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.
