CLERMONT, Fla. – The Marietta College softball team dropped a pair of games to 20th ranked Carthage College and Millsaps College on Tuesday (March 10) afternoon.  The Pioneers fell to the Lady Reds 7-5 and lost 2-1 to the Majors, with the losses the Pioneers are now 3-3 on the season.  

"Ashton Helmke (Defiance, Ohio/Tinora) and Airyanna did a great job out of the bullpen.  They both kept us in the game and gave us an opportunity to come back to win," said Head Coach Jenn Castle.  "Our hitter need to execute with runners on and take advantage of scoring situations."

Marietta jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.  The inning was started by a one out double to center field by Kaitlyn Carpenter (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North).  The next three batters Maddi Liston (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central), Hannah Richardson (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville Central), and Jordan Pallay (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Bradley) walked.  The walk by Pallay plated Carpenter to put the Pioneers on top.  Marietta loaded the bases again in the second inning when Erin Miller (Woodsfield, Ohio/Monroe Central) walked to lead off the inning, Lauren Rockocy (North Royalton, Ohio/North Royalton) reached on an error, and Maicy Kirk (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy Orange) singled.  The Pioneers scored their first run of the inning when Liston was hit by a pitch, and Richardson delivered the big blow, with a two run double to right center, to plate both Rockocy and Kirk, to put Marietta on top 4-0 in the second inning.  The Lady Reds answered in the bottom of the third inning with five runs to take a 5-4 advantage.  The Pioneers tied the game at 5-5 in the top of the fourth when Carpenter led off the inning with a walk and came around to score when Abby Lewis (Delaware, Ohio/Delaware Hayes) reached on a throwing error.  Carthage regained its lead in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of runs to lead, 7-5.  The final three innings of the game were scoreless and Marietta fell, 7-5.  

In game two, the Pioneers struck first in the bottom of the first inning when Kirk hit a solo homerun down the left field line, to put Marietta on top 1-0.  After two scoreless innings, the Majors tacked on a pair of runs in the top of the fourth and took a 2-1 edge.  Airyanna Maurer (Marysville, Ohio/Marysville) pitched 3.1 innings of relief work.  Mauer shut Millsaps down for three straight innings.  Maurer did not allow a hit and struck out four batters in her outing.  The Pioneers were unable to put together a rally and fell, 2-1.  

Coach Castle concluded, "We got a day off tomorrow to rest and then need to0 rebound for the last four games."    

Marietta will return to action Thursday (March 12) when they play Westminster College and Juniata College, with game one scheduled for 9 a.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. http://PioNation