Lady Pioneers split on day two at Rebel Spring Games
Faulkner earns win against Anderson

March 10, 2008
By: Steve Rose, Assistant SID
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Even though the Marietta College softball team was safely away from the Ohio snow, its effects were still felt down in Kissimmee, Florida. The Lady Pioneers were scheduled to play Denison University from Granville, Ohio, in the first game of a doubleheader Monday (Mar. 10) morning. The weather in Ohio kept Denison from making the 9 a.m. start time, so Marietta squared off against Anderson (Ind.) University and then took on Simpson (Iowa) in their regularly scheduled game. The Pioneers took care of business against the Ravens, winning 4-1, but the Storm proved too much, as they downed the Pioneers 14-0 in five innings.

Anderson (1-2) would score a run in the first inning to take an early lead. That was the last time an Anderson would cross home plate, as Marietta (1-3) junior Erin Faulkner (Wheelersburg) would pitch a beauty in her second start of the season. Faulkner (1-1) threw a complete game, giving up one run on four hits with one strikeout and four walks.

Offensively, the Pioneer bats would not come alive until the sixth inning when it plated three runs. Senior Nikki Veigel (Canton/Canton South) reached on a one-out single to start the rally for Marietta. Faulkner followed Veigel’s single with a single of her own right up the middle. Freshman Emily Mechling (Homer City, Pa./Homer-Center) recorded her first career single, driving in Veigel with the first run of the game. Senior Krista Huffman (Woodsfield/Monroe Central) then belted a bases-clearing triple to left center to make the score at 3-1. In the seventh, sophomore Katie Woolf (Louisville) put the nail in coffin with an inside-the-park home run to give Marietta the 4-1 victory.

Marietta finished with four runs on eight hits and made four errors. Anderson finished with one run on four hits while committing one error. Huffman went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI, while Woolf batted 2-for-4 with one RBI in the win.

Game two proved to be a very different story. Simpson (4-1) dominated the Lady Pioneers 14-0 in only five innings of play. Marietta starting pitcher Nicole Williams (Youngstown/Boardman) lasted just three innings. Faulkner then came back to the mound on short rest to pitch the final two innings.

The Lady Pioneers, who went without a hit, managed only two base runners in the afternoon session, reaching on a walk and an error.

Marietta is back in action on Tuesday (Mar. 11) morning when it plays Coe (Iowa) at 9 a.m. and then SUNY-Oneonta at 11 a.m.