Marietta softball drops two on opening day of 2008 season
Lady Pioneers play two more games on Monday

March 9, 2008
By Steve Rose, Assistant SID
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The Marietta College softball team opened the 2008 season by losing its first two games Sunday (March 9) afternoon at the Rebel Spring Games held in Kissimmee, Florida. Husson (Maine) claimed the first game, 9-4. Benedictine (Ill.) then bested Marietta, 14-13, in eight innings.

Marietta (0-2) fell behind early to Husson (1-1); it trailed 4-1 after the first two innings. A four-run top of the fourth for Husson stretched its lead to 8-2. Junior Erin Faulkner (Wheelersburg) opened the bottom of the fourth with a double to right center. Freshman Ashley Eberhardt (Massillon/Tuslaw) followed up with a single to put two on. Senior Krista Huffman (Woodsfield/Monroe Central) hit a double to right center, driving in her first two runs of the 2008 campaign. Those two runs would be the last that the Lady Pioneers would score. Husson would add another run in the sixth on its way to winning 9-4.

Faulkner pitched the first six innings, giving up all nine runs (six earned) on 11 hits with seven strikeouts and one walk. Sophomore Nicole Williams (Youngstown/Boardman) came in to pitch a scoreless seventh. She struck out one.

Junior Emily McComb (Gnadenhutten/Indian Valley) and Eberhardt were the only Pioneers to collect two hits in the first game; each went 2-for-3. Huffman was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBI.

Marietta finished the game with four runs on eight hits and committed two errors. Husson finished with nine runs on 11 hits and had four errors.

Game two turned out to be one of the wildest games that Head Coach Jeanne Arbuckle had ever seen in her 21 years with Marietta.

Benedictine (1-0) opened the scoring by plating nine runs in the bottom of the first inning. Marietta answered with an offensive explosion of its own in the top of the fourth after trailing 9-1. The Lady Pioneers scored nine runs in the frame to take their first lead of the season, 10-9. Benedictine answered back in the bottom half of the fourth with one run to tie the score at 10-10.

Marietta regained the lead in the sixth after scoring two runs to lead 12-10. Benedictine scored two runs on the bottom of the sixth to knot the score at 12-12. Both teams went scoreless in the seventh, pushing the game to extra innings. In the eighth, Marietta scored one to lead 13-12. Williams, who had pitched the entire game for the Pioneers, left the game after loading the bases. Faulkner came in and got what she needed by inducing a pop up. Unfortunately, the Pioneers committed their seventh error of the game and it allowed the final two runs of the game. Benedictine went on to win 14-13.

Senior Nikki Veigel (Canton/Canton South) went 4-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Faulkner and Williams each went 2-for-5 with two RBI each.

Williams pitched 8 innings giving up 14 runs (10 earned) on 10 hits, while striking out four and walking eight.

Marietta finished with 13 runs on 13 hits and made seven errors. Benedictine finished with 14 runs on 11 hits and had six errors.

Marietta returns to action Monday (Mar. 10) morning at 9 a.m. when it will face Denison University. The Pioneers then take on against Simpson (Iowa) at 1 p.m.