CLERMONT, Florida — The Marietta College softball team split a pair of games Tuesday (Mar. 5) afternoon. The Pioneers defeated Defiance College, 15-4, and lost to Illinois College, 10-1. Marietta moves to 1-4 on the season.
Defiance scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Madison Guggenbiller had an RBI single and then the Yellowjackets took advantage of a Pioneer error to score an unearned run for the 2-0 lead.
Marietta responded with eight straight runs. The Pioneers scored two in the second and three in the third and fourth innings.
Taylor Airy (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) ripped an RBI double and
Grace Elliott (Akron, Ohio/Green) drove in another run with an infield single in the second inning.
In the third inning,
Jillian Middleton (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) delivered a two-run double and Airy picked up her second RBI with a single in the middle.
Rachel Kazmirski (Colliers, W.Va./Brooke) had a two-run double in the fourth.
Defiance added a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth. The Pioneers put the game away with three in the sixth and four more in the seventh.
Middleton (1-1) went the distance in the circle for the Pioneers. She allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits with four walks and 13 strikeouts. Savannah McCoy (0-2) started and took the loss for Defiance. She was charged with right runs, seven earned, on six hits with five walks and two strikeouts.
Airy finished 3-for-5with a double and three runs batted in. Middleton, Grace, and
Jess Brown (Brookville, Ohio/Brookville) each had two hits. Middleton doubled and had three RBI.
In the second game of the day, Illinois College built a 5-0 lead and then added five insurance runs in the seventh inning for the 10-1 win.
Marietta's lone run came in the bottom of the fourth. Airy led off with a walk and stole second. Following a pop out,
Leah Weber (Bakersfield, Calif./Garces Memorial) lined a single to right field scoring Airy.
Middleton (1-2) started and took the loss for the Pioneers. She allowed four runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
Amelia Timko (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) and
Candace Walters (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy) both threw in relief. Julia Drake (2-3) went tossed the complete game for Illinois College allowing one run on five hits with three walks and eight strikeouts.
Liz White (North Royalton, Ohio/North Royalton) was the lone Pioneer with two hits in the game.
Marietta is off on Wednesday and plays two games on Thursday (Mar. 7). The Pioneers play Carlow University at 9:00 a.m. and Thomas College at 11:15 a.m.
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.
