MARIETTA, Ohio - Marietta College held home field advantage on Sunday with two home wins over the Wilmington College softball team to split the four-game Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) series. The Pioneers took game one 3-0 and won the nightcap 12-11 in walk-off fashion.
In game one, Wilmington got a runner in scoring position is four of the first five innings, but couldn't deliver an RBI-hit. Marietta, on the other hand, capitalized with a two-out, RBI-hit in the third inning to take a 1-0 lead. The hosts doubled their lead in the fifth by scoring on a passed ball. Hannah Richardson, who popped out in game one of the series, hit an RBI-single to center field in the sixth.
Maddi Liston earned the complete-game win scattering five hits with five strikeouts. Lindsey Carter pitched six innings for the Quakers, allowing nine hits and three earned runs with three strikeouts.
Offensively, Megan Crager and Carter both went 2-for-3 for the Quakers while Carter also stole a base.
Game two was very different. With the game tied 1-1 after two complete, Wilmington opened it up in the third inning. Hayley Suchland led off the inning with a home run and RBI hits from Alecia Kemp and McKenna Archey scored three runs more runs putting the Quakers up 5-1. After the Pioneers were held scoreless in the bottom half of the inning, Wilmington used three Marietta errors to plate three more runs in the fourth. Another unearned run in the fifth put the visitors in position to close out the game in five, up 9-1.
The Pioneer offense had other ideas, however, as Marietta plated seven runs on six hits including a grand slam from Kylie Daugherty to put within a single run, 9-8, after five complete. Both teams added two runs in the sixth inning, but in the seventh, Daugherty was the hero, walking off with a two-run home run to left field.
Both starting pitchers – Alexis Stringfellow for Wilmington and Richardson for Marietta – made it three innings. For the Quakers, Suchland, Hillary Huffer and Carter all pitched in relief with Carter taking the loss. Ashton Helmke pitched the final four innings for the Pioneers, to earn her first win of the season.
Suchland finished game two 3-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI while Crager and Ari Layne each had two hits. Kemp and Archey both had one hit and drove in multiple runs. Daugherty tallied the two home runs and six RBIs for Marietta while Anna Swierczewski and Hailey Muller both had multiple hits and drove in multiple runs.
Wilmington (8-8, 7-5 OAC) will face Muskingum University for a four-game series this weekend.
