Senior Melissa Maiorano, junior Rachel Eberling, and junior Krissy Hughes each registered a home run as the Muskingum softball team swept Ohio Athletic Conference rival Marietta in its final home contest of the season at Donna J. Newberry Field on Sunday afternoon. The Muskies won the opener 6-2 and took game two, 8-7.

The Basics 

• Records: Muskingum (23-9 overall, 9-7 OAC), Marietta (15-17 overall, 7-9 OAC)
• Location: New Concord, Ohio – Donna J. Newberry Field 

Post-Game Notes

• With today's doubleheader sweep, Muskingum is now tied for fourth place in the OAC with Baldwin Wallace (9-7 conference record). Both teams have two OAC games left to play. The top four teams advance to the OAC Tournament, held May 4-6.

Inside the Numbers- Game One:

• Muskingum scored six runs on nine hits.
• Freshman Jaelyn Meade led the Muskies as she went 2-for-3, which included a double, two runs scored, and an RBI.
• Junior Krissy Hughes went 2-for-4 at the dish, which included a homer, with two runs scored and an RBI.
• Junior's Rachel Eberling and Kierstyn Czuchran, freshmen Riley Powers, Karsyn Shaffer, and Shaena Mayer each tallied a hit.
• Eberling and sophomore Jolyn Shunk each produced an RBI.
• Meade grounded out to third base, which allowed Hughes to score the first run in the bottom of the first inning. Hughes opened the inning with a single through the right side.
• A throwing error by the catcher allowed Shunk to score the second run in the bottom of the second inning. Shunk opened the inning with a walk.
• In the third inning, Meade scored the third run on a wild pitch. Meade doubled to left center to reach base.  
• Muskingum scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth. The first came from Hughes who hit a solo home run to open the inning, the second came from freshman Alexia Dowdle and the third and final run of the game came from Meade off a sacrifice fly by Shunk. Powers was the second batter to start the inning and hit the single to reach base, then pinch runner Dowdle came in. Meade was the third batter and singled through the left side to get on base.
• Freshman pitcher Gabrielle McNeil posted her third win in the circle, allowing two runs on six hits.
• Senior Haylea Debolt recorded her first save of the season as she tossed the final 2.2 innings.
• Marietta scored two runs on seven hits.
• Ali Prologo went 2-for-4 at the dish with one run scored and an RBI for the Pioneers.
• Jackie Mulvain took the loss after allowing four runs on five hits.

Inside the Numbers- Game Two:

• Muskingum scored eight runs on 10 hits.
• Debolt paced the Muskies offense by going 3-for-3, which included a double, two runs scored, and an RBI.
• Senior Melissa Maiorano went 2-for-2 at the dish, which included a homer, two runs scored, and a team-high three RBIs.
• Hughes went 2-for-4 at the plate, which included two doubles, and two RBIs.
• Freshman Karsyn Shaffer went 2-for-3 at the dish with a run scored.
• The Muskies scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning. An RBI single by Debolt allowed Powers to score the first run. The next play, Eberling smashed a two-run dinger. Powers reached base from a walk.
• In the bottom of the second, Hughes doubled to left field to bring Shaffer across the plate for the fourth run. Shaffer opened the inning with a single.
• The fifth run came in the bottom of the fourth when Hughes grounded out to first base, giving Maiorano the opportunity to score. Maiorano singled to center field to open the inning.
• Maiorano blasted a three-run goner in the bottom of the fifth, which scored Shunk and Debolt. Debolt opened the inning with a double to right field, while Shunk reached on a fielder's choice.   
• Eberling recorded the win for the Muskies pitching 3.2 innings surrendering three runs on seven hits.
• Sophomore relief pitcher Sarah Turek had a solid performance in the circle as she tossed the final two innings and allowed one hit, no runs, and two strikeouts for the save.
• Marietta scored seven runs on 12 hits.
• Reagan Tom led the Pioneers at the plate by going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI.
• Maddi Liston tossed the loss after allowing eight runs on 10 hits.

Game Highlights

In game one, Muskingum plated one run in the bottom of the first, second, and third inning to hold an early 3-0 lead. Marietta got within one in the top of the fifth as they notched two runs, 3-2. A solo homer by Hughes, an RBI single by Eberling, and a sacrifice fly by Shunk in the bottom of the fifth sealed the game one victory.  

Muskingum jumped on the scoreboard early in game two as Debolt singled up the middle to drive in Powers to score the first run. Then, on the next play, Eberling hit a dinger to left center to take an early 3-0 advantage. The Pioneers responded in the top of the second as they spurted four runs to pull ahead, 4-3. In the bottom of the second, Hughes doubled to left field to bring Shaffer across the plate to tie the contest at 4-4. With two outs and bases loaded in the top of the fourth, Marietta scored on a walk to regain the lead, 5-4. The Muskies tied the game again in the bottom of the fourth as Hughes grounded out to first base, which brought Maiorano in for the run. The Pioneers accrued two more runs in the top of the fifth to retake the lead, 7-5. In the bottom of the fifth with one out and runners on first and third base, Maiorano smacked a three-run homer to lift the Muskies to an 8-7 advantage. In the final two innings, relief pitcher Turek had a solid performance as she only surrendered one hit and a walk to help Muskingum beat Marietta in game two.

Up Next

• Muskingum will travel to Ada, Ohio as they play against Ohio Northern on Saturday, April 28. Game time is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m.