MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College enjoyed a nice sunny day and swept a softball doubleheader from Penn State Behrend Sunday (April 24) afternoon. The Pioneers took the first game by the score of 8-0 in five innings and then came from behind to post a 12-10 win in the second game.
Marietta improves to 14-20 overall and the Lions fall to 16-13 on the season.
Marietta got the offense rolling right away in game one.
Kylie Daugherty (Newport, Ohio/Frontier) led off the home half of the first inning with a double to right center field and then
Taylor Watts (Galloway, Ohio/West Jefferson) walked,
Jess Brown (Brookville, Ohio/Brookville) then blasted a pitch over the left field wall to give the Pioneers a three-run lead.
After holding Behrend scoreless in the top of the second, Marietta got more baserunners on for Brown. Daugherty walked and Watts got on with a bunt single. Brown hammered her second three-run homer of the day to give Marietta a seven-run cushion.
The Pioneers got an insurance run in the third when
Taylor Airy (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) homered to right center field.
Ashton Helmke (Defiance, Ohio/Tinora) (1-2) got the start for the Pioneers. She only gave up two hits in 5.0 innings of work. She allowed no runs and struck out one.
Marietta scored first in game two. In the second inning,
Anna Swierczewski (Natrona Heights, Pa./Saint Joseph) tripled down the right field line and scored on
Rachel Kazmirski's (Colliers, W.Va./Brooke) single. Behrend answered quickly in the top. Of the third when Jocelyn McNany singled two Lions home, giving them a one-run lead.
The Pioneers broke out for a big third inning. After already plating a run off of a wild pitch, the Pioneers loaded the bases when Brown singled and
Emma Burke (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) walked. Swierczewski then belted a pitch over the left field fence for a grand slam, giving the Pioneers a 6-2 lead. Burke's two run single in the fourth extended the lead to six.
After scoring in the top half of the fifth, the Lion had a huge sixth inning. Behrend got singles from six out of the next seven batters to cut the lead in half. Cami McNany's bases clearing double gave the Lions a two-run lead.
Marietta was down to their last at-bats in the seventh. Kazmirski got a one-out single and then Hayley Mott walked.
Hailey Maher (Galloway, Ohio/Central Crossing) then almost ended the game but came up a bit short on the homer. Her double, though, tied the game at 10 with the top of the lineup coming back up. Daugherty then went deep to give the Pioneers the win, walk-off style.
Jillian Middleton (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) got the start and went 5.0 innings, giving up five runs on four hits and striking out six.
Breanna Zirkle (Pomeroy, Ohio/Meigs) came in to for relief and worked .2 inning, giving up five runs (only one earned) on four hits.
Sarah Keating (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) (1-3) got the victory in relief. She pitched 1.1 innings and only gave up one hit and struck out one.
The Pioneers set a new single-season record for home runs. They now have hit 33 home runs as a team. The previous record was 31, set in 2011.
Marietta will celebrate Senior Day as they host Baldwin Wallace Satuday (April 30) afternoon. The OAC doubleheader starts at 1:00 p.m.
Fans can follow all of 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.
