Capital sweeps Marietta softball in regular season finale
Lady Pioneers clinch fourth seed thanks to a John Carroll loss to Muskingum

May 1, 2005
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Lady Pioneers have a reason to celebrate Sunday (May 1). Despite being swept by Capital, 5-4 & 9-1, Marietta will be returning to the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament for the first time since 1999. Coach Jeanne Arbuckle's squad clinched the fourth and final spot in next weekend's tourney, which will be hosted by Muskingum (May 5-6), because John Carroll, who needed to win its four remaining contests, was swept by the Muskies Sunday.

Marietta (15-22, 9-9 OAC) did not hold a lead in either ball game this afternoon. Capital (24-13, 11-6 OAC) scored a single run in the second and three more in the third of Lady Pioneers starter Kristen Quintana (Denver, CO/Littleton) in game one.

MC fought back to tie the game with three runs in the fourth and one in the fifth, but Capital went ahead for good with a run of its own in the fifth and held on for the 5-4 victory.

Sophomore Lindsey Romick (Hannibal/River), who is playing in her first season with the Pioneers after transferring from James Madison in the fall, led off the fourth with a single, extending her hitting streak to a single-season team record 13 games. The hit was her 48th of the year, breaking the single-season record set by Kira Brooks and Jennifer Ludwig in 2001. Romick later scored on a RBI double off the bat of junior Sue Schwamberger (Covington). MC scored its other two runs of the inning when Capital pitchers walked in two runs with the bases loaded.

Romick and Schwamberger teamed up to produce the Lady Pioneers final run in the fifth. Romick led off with her 13th double of the season, also a new school record, and Schwamberger drove her in with a RBI double.

Quintana suffered the loss in game one, allowing five runs (three earned) on five hits in 6.0 innings. She walked seven and struck out four.

The Crusaders struck for eight runs (five earned) on eight hits off Marietta starter Amie Weis (Burlington, WI/Wetosha) and added a run off reliever Stephanie Houston (Newark/Licking Valley) en route to a 9-1, six-inning victory in game two.

Marietta scored its only run in the fourth when senior Taryn Dobson (New Middletown/Springfield Local) doubled home Kelly Rucker (Rocky River), who led off the frame with a walk.

The Pioneers managed six hits in the nightcap, two of them came off the bat of senior Katie Moriarty (North Canton/Hoover).

The pairings for the 2005 OAC Softball Tournament, which begins Friday, have now been finalized. No. 2 Mount Union and No. 3 Capital will take the field in New Concord at 11 a.m. and No. 4 Marietta will battle No. 1 Muskingum at 1 p.m. Action will continue Friday afternoon with the winners of the opening round playing at 3 p.m. and the losers matching up at 5 p.m.