MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College softball team faced elimination as they battled with Penn State Berks on Friday (May 19) and, despite taking a lead into the final inning, the Pioneers came up short and would fall to the Nittany Lions, 5-4. Although the loss eliminates the Pioneers from the NCAA Regional, Marietta ends the season with one of the best records (24-17) in recent history and the experience of hosting a regional tournament for the first time in school history.
After a scoreless top half of the first inning, the Pioneers got some early offense when
Taylor Watts (Galloway, Ohio/West Jefferson) reached base on an infield single and was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt.
Rachel Kazmirski (Colliers, W.Va./Brooke) then singled to the opposite field, driving home Watts and giving Marietta a quick 1-0 lead.
"We did a great job at making some adjustments and rebounding from yesterday," said Marietta Head Coach
Jenn Castle. "We played a lot better. We hit a lot better. We put the ball in play and gave ourselves many chances. Overall, I'm pleased at how this team played today."
The Nittany Lions answered in the next inning. Susan Duncan reached base after being hit by a pitch and came around to score on Briana Smith's double. Smith would then score on a hit from Hayden Perrone and Naomi Fay would score on a sacrifice fly, giving Penn State Berks a 3-1 lead.
The Pioneers got the clutch hitting they were desperately looking for in the fourth as
Jillian Middleton (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) led off the inning with a single.
Jess Brown (Brookville, Ohio/Brookville) then blasted an opposite field home run to tie up the game at three.
Jillian Strecansky (Columbiana, Ohio/South Range) doubled with two out and would come around to score the go-ahead run on
Micaela Bradley (Greenup, Ill./Cumberland)'s bloop single, giving Marietta a one-run lead.
Middleton (11-6) came in to relieve starter Kazmirski in the second inning and provided the Pioneers with some stability, striking out several Nittany Lions at key moments of the game. In the seventh inning, Middleton gave up a lead-off walk. After Penn State Berks gave up an out on a sacrifice bunt to advance the runner to second, Middleton got another key strikeout to put the opponents at their last out. Arizona Shreck came to the plate and got the pitch she was looking for, depositing it deep over the right field fence to give the Lions the lead, 5-4.
"That was awesome," said Penn State Berks Head Coach Donna Ference. "She jumped on the first pitch and I knew it was gone off the bat."
Briana Smith (16-7) wasn't as sharp as the day before but was effective enough. She would retire the Pioneers in order in the bottom half of the final inning and collected the victory. The No. 4 seeded Nittany Lions will now take on Pfeiffer University in a second elimination game at 4:00 p.m. Winner will battle Rowan University in the Championship game Saturday (May 20) at 2 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.
