Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall catcher Bailynn Parsons swings at a pitch during the softball team's home opener against Worthington on Tuesday at Mustang Field. The Trojans defeated the Tigers 12-8 behind a seven-run rally in the seventh inning.

MARSHALL — A series of errors doomed the Marshall softball team in its home opener against Worthington in Big South Conference play on Tuesday. The Tigers came from behind to take their first lead of the game in the sixth inning, but eventually fell 12-8 due to a seven-run seventh inning from the Trojans.

“It’s really the little things, we talked about, that are making the difference right now,” Marshall head coach Stacey Baedke said. “Friday [in a loss to Fairmont] we did a lot of those little things. We still didn’t come out with the win on Friday, but it was a good night. Tonight, we couldn’t get the little things done where.”

Baedke specifically cited plate discipline and errors as areas of focus for the team going forward.

The Tigers trailed by a run heading into the sixth inning when consecutive singles by Jaylah Morgan and Brynlee Dieken put runners on the corners with two outs when Jennifer Lee stepped up to the plate. Lee beat out a ground ball to second to drive in the tying run, and a passed ball allowed Dieken to run home for the go-ahead run. Bailynn Parsons then singled to drive in Lee for a 7-5 lead before the inning ended. 

“They’ve always said hitting is contagious and you could see that in the fifth and sixth innings,” Baedke said. “We were able to put the ball in play and get runners on that. If we can do that, we have quite a few quick girls on the team this year, so making the defense make plays is going to help us out.”

Worthington got a run back in the top of the seventh when Hannah McNab was hit by a pitch and stole her way to third before scoring on a passed ball. Tayler Nickel then hit a pop fly into right field that was dropped by Dieken, allowing the Trojans to have runners on first and second, and consecutive walks to Brooklyn Bretzman and Macie Mahlberg forced in the tying run with one out and the bases loaded.

From there, a wild pitch from Aaliyah Podratz gave Worthington the go-ahead run with an 8-7 lead. A line drive off the glove of Taylor Frana at second drove in another run, a second wild pitch allowed another run to score and Madilyn Polz hit an RBI double into deep center field to make the score 11-7 in favor of the Trojans when Marshall took out Podratz for starting pitcher Alissa Moen to return to the mound. 

A McNab double drove in another run for the Trojans before the Tigers ended the frame, heading into the bottom of the seventh facing a five-run deficit. 

Dallman led off the bottom of the frame with a single, extending it to second base on a fielding error by Worthington at first, and then scored when Frana reached on an outfield error by Worthington. 

A Morgan single put the tying run on deck in the bottom of the seventh, but two fly outs and a strikeout ended the game with a Worthington win. 

This year’s Marshall softball team fields a young and largely inexperienced squad; just six of the team’s 14 players were on the varsity roster last year, and Grahn is the only returner who had more than 10 plate appearances last season.

“We’re young and inexperienced right now, so we talked about controlling what we can control: attitude, effort and energy,” Baedke said. “Those are things that we can control every single game, and if we can have those things, the rest will come easy. We struggled with energy right away, effort was okay, but that energy piece is what’s going to help us this season.”

The Tigers trailed by as many as four runs in the game before the comeback commenced. Dieken, Naya Grahn and Parsons each hit a fifth-inning single to load the bases for Marshall with one out. An infield fly put two away, but Sara Dallman came up with a clutch three-run triple to bring Marshall within a run, 5-4.

Worthington pushed across a pair of runs while leaving the bases loaded in the first inning. Bailey Ponto led off the game by reaching on an error at second base by Frana and then scored the go-ahead run on a Polz double.

A walk and a single to Breeta Johnson and McNab loaded the bases for Worthington with no outs, but Moen struck out consecutive batters to put two down. A passed ball allowed one more run to score before a ground out ended the frame with the Tigers trailing 2-0.

A three-run fourth inning extended Worthington’s lead to four runs. Bretzman drew a leadoff walk before scoring on a Mahlberg triple, and Mahlberg then scored on a Ponto triple. 

Ponto was held up when Polz reached base on a single, putting runners on the corners with no outs, but a passed ball gave Worthington another run for a 5-1 lead. From there, however, Marshall got three straight outs to end the inning without further damage. 

Marshall first got on the board in the third inning when Grahn singled and, with two outs, scored on a Parsons single to cut Worthington’s lead down to one run.

Moen allowed two earned and three unearned runs over four innings on the mound to start the game. She struck out five batters while allowing eight hits and four walks. She also came back in as a relief pitcher for the final two outs, getting hit for an additional two hits and a walk while allowing one earned and one unearned run. The performance left her with the loss.

Dallman pitched a scoreless inning of relief for Marshall. The only baserunner she allowed was a hit batter. 

Podratz also allowed six earned and one unearned run over 1 1/3 innings.

Marshall falls to 0-2 on the season and will look to pick up its first win on Saturday when it hosts Belle Plaine for a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m.