WILMINGTON — The Wilmington College softball team split its annual “Strike Out Cancer” series with Marietta College on Saturday, winning game one 12-4 in five innings and falling 13-9 in the nightcap.
The Quakers, who entered the game scoreless in their last 27 innings, put the bad streak to bed right away as WC loaded the bases with one out and Judaea Wilson beat the throw home to score on a wild pitch. One hitter later after a Pioneer pitching change, McKenna Archey found grass in shallow right center field scoring two more.
The WC defense got into the act as Lindsey Carter threw out a runner at home plate in the third.
In their half of the third, the Quakers tallied four hits and took advantage of a Pioneer error to plate five runs. The frame featured RBI-singles from Logann Julian, Lizz Hadley and Mollie Moore as well as a bases-loaded walk by Olivia Doll.
After the lead shrank to 8-4, Wilmington put the game away in the bottom of the fifth. WC loaded the bases with one out and four consecutive RBI-singles from Carter, Samantha Schwab, Julian and Archey each plated a run to end the game in five innings.
Izzy Rothrock improved to 2-4 on the season with the four-inning victory, allowing four hits and three walks while striking out four. Carter went 3-for-4.
In the second game, the Quakers fell behind 5-0. Mollie Moore had a run-scoring double in the second. Rachel Berry followed with a base hit to center that scored McKayla Sites, who entered as a pinch runner for Lizz Hadley earlier in the inning. Marietta scored four unearned runs for a 12-4 lead. Wilmington then made it 12-8.
Alexis Stringfellow dipped to 4-5 with three other Quakers pitching in relief. The bright spot in the pitching staff was Makenzie O’Neil, who threw a perfect seventh inning in her first collegiate action. Julian and Olivia Doll both had three-hit games.
The Quakers (11-15, 1-9 OAC) head to Capital Wednesday.
