CLERMONT, Fla. – The Marietta College softball team earned a sweep of Westminster and Juniata College on Thursday (March 12) afternoon. The Pioneers defeated the Titans, 3-2 in game one and took game two, 4-0 over the Eagles. The sweep improves the Pioneers record to 5-3 overall on the season.
After a scoreless first and second inning, Westminster struck first with a two run home run in the top of the third to lead, 2-0. After a scoreless fourth inning, Marietta got on the board with a run in the bottom of the fifth.
Alyssa Cook (Akron, Ohio/Ellet) led off the inning with a single, and
Jordan Pallay (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Bradley) singled to put runners on first and second. A sacrifice bunt by Haley Mott moved both runners up a base, and an infield single by
Lauren Rockocy (North Royalton, Ohio/North Royalton) plated Cook to make the score 2-1 at the end of five innings. The Pioneers grabbed the lead in the bottom of the sixth when
Hannah Richardson (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville Central) hit a two run homerun over the left field fence, which scored
Kaitlyn Carpenter (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) who doubled earlier in the inning. Richardson finished her 3.2 innings of work in the seventh. She was able to hold the Titans at bay, and Marietta won, 3-2.
The Pioneers wasted no time taking the lead in game two when
Kylie Daugherty (Newport, Ohio/Frontier) led off the game with a homerun to straight away center field. After a three scoreless innings, Marietta added to its lead with three runs in the fifth inning. Carpenter got the inning started with a lead off single and then she stole second base. Later in the inning, Cook singled up the middle to drive in Carpenter. The next batter up Pallay, doubled off the left field wall, and
Erin Miller (Woodsfield, Ohio/Monroe Central) followed when she reached on a fielder's choice to score Cook. Pallay would later come around to score on a sacrifice fly from Rockocy, to put the Pioneers on top 4-0.
Airyanna Maurer (Marysville, Ohio/Marysville) continued to shut down the Eagles and Marietta won 4-0.
Maurer pitched a complete game to earn her first win of the season. Maurer earned the shutout victory as she only allowed three hits in the game. She struck out seven bats, five of which were looking.
Marietta will return to action tomorrow Friday (March 13) when they concluded their spring trip with games against Montclair State and Wooster, with game one scheduled for 1:30 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.
