No. 13 Marietta clinches second seed in next week's OAC Softball Tournament with split against Capital
Pioneers win game one 1-0 in 12 innings to secure seed

Apr. 29, 2006
MARIETTA, Ohio —It took 12 innings, but the No. 13 Marietta College softball team locked up the second seed in next week's Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament with a 1-0 victory over visiting Capital in the opening game of a doubleheader Saturday (Apr. 29). The Crusaders, however, went on to win the nightcap 7-3 to salvage a split.

Marietta, who is having its best season in school history, improved its record to 31-9 on the year and finished the OAC regular season at 12-6. Capital concluded its season 21-18 overall and went 7-10 in league play.

Game one saw a great pitcher's duel and some stellar defense, which resulted in both teams unable to score a run in regulation. Marietta junior Kristen Quintana (Denver, Colo./Littleton) and Capital junior Jen Heidenreich went head-to-head for 12 innings, before the Pioneers finally scraped across a run to seal the win.

Junior Jenny Carroll (Lisbon/Beaver Local) reached on an infield single with one out in the 12th inning, bringing junior Lindsey Romick (Hannibal/River) to the plate. Romick, who had been struggling of late, delivered a double over the left fielder's head. Carroll scurried all of the way from first base to score the game-winning run. For Romick, it was her 24th career double, which tied the school record.

Quintana was almost untouchable throughout the day. She allowed just a pair of singles, one in the first and the other in the 10th, en route to her school-record breaking 18th victory of the season. The right-hander struck out eight and walked just one. She finished the regular season with a school record 10 shutouts, 18 wins, 162.6 innings pitched, 195 strikeouts and 30 appearances. She is also second all-time in wins (37) and strikeouts (374) at Marietta.

Heidenreich allowed just five hits in the loss and fanned nine. She fell to 10-13 on the season.

Carroll finished 2-for-5 with one run scored for the Pioneers. Sophomore Brandy Jacob (Wellington/Keystone) broke the school record for at-bats in a season in the first inning and finished the day with 137. In addition, freshman first baseman Emily McComb (Gnadenhutten/Indian Valley) increased her put out total to a school record 259.

With the second seed in the OAC Tournament already locked up, Head Coach Jeanne Arbuckle took the opportunity to rest some of its regular starters and gave some of the younger players a chance to see varsity action in the second game.

Capital was able to respond from the extra-inning loss with a ten-hit performance to win the nightcap 7-3.

Marietta finished with six hits and committed four errors. The Pioneers' three runs all came when freshman Erin Faulkner (Wheelersburg) hit a three-run home run to right field in the second inning. It was her first hit of the season.

Freshman Christina DeMoss (Bellville/Clear Fork), who struck out six, suffered the loss and fell to 11-5 on the year. Capital's Erin Willeke picked up the win to finish the season 11-5.

With the regular season concluded, Marietta has reached new heights in wins (31), RBI (154), batters struck out (246) and shutouts (16). They have also tied the single-season school record for triples (13).

The Pioneers now turn their attention to the double-elimination OAC Tournament, which will be hosted by rival Muskingum in New Concord on Friday (May 5) and Saturday (May 6). Marietta will take on third-seeded Mount Union at 11 a.m., while Muskingum will battle fourth-seeded Otterbein at 1 p.m. The winners will meet at 3 p.m. and the losers will match-up at 5 p.m.