MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College softball team split a pair of games Saturday (Mar. 16) afternoon. The Pioneers fell to Alma College, 6-2, and then beat Wittenberg University, 4-2. Marietta moves to 5-6 on the season.
Alma (9-2-2 overall) was led by a dominating performance from starting pitcher Mikaylyn Kenney. Kenney (5-1) struck out 15 Pioneers and allowed two runs on four hits with one walk in 7.0 innings in the circle.
Jillian Middleton (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) (2-3) went the distance for the Pioneers and was tagged with the loss after allowing six runs, five earned, on five hits. She walked six and struck out six.
Alma scored two in the first inning and added another run in the third for a 3-0 lead. Marietta got within a run with two in the bottom of the fourth.
Rachel Kazmirski (Colliers, W.Va./Brooke) had an RBI double and
Jess Brown (Brookville, Ohio/Brookville) drove in Kazmirski with a single to right field.
Danielle Dumoulin had an RBI double in the fifth and drove in another run in the seventh with a single. Morgan Brandau plated the final run for Alma with a single to center for a 6-2 lead.
Kazmirski finished 2-for-3 with a double.
In the second game, Marietta jumped on Wittenberg (8-9 overall) for three runs in the bottom of the first and then held on for the 4-2 victory.
Grace Elliott (Akron, Ohio/Green) led off the first with a basehit bunt. She was sacrificed to second by
Shelby Metzger (Beavercreek Township, Ohio/Beavercreek). Kazmirski was hit by a pitch and Brown followed with a single to left scoring Elliott. Middleton singled to load the bases.
Taylor Airy (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) singled to right scoring Kazmirski.
Jordan Cholley (North Canton, Ohio/Glenoak) plated the third run with a bases-loaded walk.
The Tigers got one run back in the second when Samantha Zungri stole second and then came all the way around to score when the throw hit off her leg and bounced into the outfield.
Middelton drove in
Lily Williams (Tipp City, Ohio/Bethel) with a ground out in the fifth giving the Pioneers a 4-1 lead. Wittenberg scored one in the sixth for the 4-2 final score.
Breanna Zirkle (Pomeroy, Ohio/Meigs) (2-1) started and got the win for Marietta. She threw 5.0 innings and allowed two runs on five hits with one walk and two strikeouts.
Amelia Timko (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) recorded her first save of the season with 2.0 innings of shutout relief. She gave up three hits.
Julia hall (1-3) started and took the loss for the Tigers. She was charged with four runs on nine hits in 5.1 innings of work.
Elliott, Brown, Middleton, and Airy all had two hits in the game for the Pioneers.
Marietta plays Alma at 2:00 p.m. and Wittenberg at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday (Mar. 17).
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 X and Instagram.
