ADA, Ohio — Marietta College split and Ohio Athletic Conference softball doubleheader at Ohio Northern University Friday (Mar. 29) afternoon. Ohio Northern won the first game, 9-4, and Marietta took game two, 8-6. The Pioneers move to 7-10 overall and 1-1 in the OAC. Ohio Northern is 8-8 on the season and 1-1 in conference play.
Jess Brown (Brookville, Ohio/Brookville) staked the Pioneers to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of game one. White led off with a single to center field and
Rachel Kazmirski (Colliers, W.Va./Brooke) followed with a double to left-center moving White to third base. Brown launched a home run over the wall in left-center clearing the bases.
Ohio Northern responded with four runs in the bottom of the frame and then added one in the second and four more in the third. Callie Rosser had an RBI triple and then scored on a wild pitch in the first. Ashley Simko plated two more in the first with a single to center field. Sydney Motylinski had an RBI single in the second and knocked in a pair of runs in the third with a triple.
Ashley Lenser (4-1) went the distance in the circle for the Polar Bears for the win. She worked 7.0 innings and gave up four runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts. Breanna (3-3) started and took the loss for Marietta. Zirkle pitched 2.0 innings and was charged with eight runs, six earned, on 10 hits.
Brown was 2-for-4 with the home run and three RBI.
Jillian Middleton (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) had two hits including a double.
Brown stayed hot in the second game driving in three of Marietta's first four runs with a pair of home runs. She launched a solo shot to right field in the first and then smacked a two-run homer to right in the third inning.
The Polar Bears cut the Pioneer lead to one, 4-3, with two runs in the second and one in the third. Motylinksi hit a solo home run in the third.
Marietta manufactured a run in the fourth when
Jordan Cholley (North Canton, Ohio/Glenoak) led off with a double and was sacrificed to third by
Shelby Metzger (Beavercreek Township, Ohio/Beavercreek). She later scored on a wild pitch. The Pioneers extended the lead to 8-3 in the top of the fifth.
Grace Elliott (Akron, Ohio/Green) had an RBI double, Cholley plated a run with a sac fly and Metzger drove in the final run with an RBI single to left-center.
Ohio Northern rallied for three runs in the final two innings to get within two runs, 8-6. The Polar Bears had the tying run on base when the game ended.
Amelia Timko (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) (1-2) started and got the win for Marietta. She worked 4.0 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Middleton picked up the save with 3.0 innings of relief. She allowed three runs on three hits.
Kayla Runyon (2-5) started and took the loss. She threw 5.0 innings and allowed eight runs on nine hits with a pair of walks.
Brown was 2-for-2 with the two home runs, a pair of walks, three runs scored and three RBI. Kazmirski had two hits in the game for the Pioneers.
Marietta returns home to host the University of Mount Union on Wednesday (April 3). First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 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 X and Instagram.
