Marietta's Jillian Middleton delivers a pitch in Wednesday night’s game against Cloverleaf at Phillips Field. Middleton collected the win while fanning 10 in the Tigers’ 5-4, walk-off win. MIKE MORRISON The Marietta Times

Bailey Hogue’s walk-off, two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning provided the Marietta Lady Tigers with a come-from-behind 5-4 win over the visiting Cloverleaf Lady Colts Wednesday evening at Phillips Field.

Hogue’s line drive single up the middle plated Jillian Middleton with the tying run and Molly Westermeyer with the game winner as the Tigers squared their season mark at 2-2.

“We hung in there and we kept fighting,” said second- year Marietta head coach Kris Hill. “I felt good about our chances because we had the middle of the lineup coming up and they came through in a big way.”

The orange and black took advantage of some less than spectacular Cloverleaf defense to score a pair runs in the opening inning and held that advantage until the top of the third when Colts lead-off batter Alli Gray drilled an opposite-field, inside-park homerun to cut the lead to 2-1.

MHS freshman pitcher Jillian Middleton was touched up for a pair of Colt runs in the top of the fourth as Cloverleaf took their first lead of the game.

With one out, Emily Whitehair and Hailey Eichelberg collected back-to-back singles and one out later Colt starting pitcher Samantha Goode helped her own cause in a big way as she delivered a two-run single that gave Cloverleaf a 3-2 lead.

Goode was replaced in the circle by Bailey Swan who allowed Marietta to tie things up in the bottom of the fifth.

Marietta did all of it’s damage in the fifth after two batters were out when Middleton and Hannah Kroft singled and Westermeyer doubled into the left-center field gap to plate Middleton and knot the score at 3-3.

Cloverleaf regained the lead in the top of the sixth as once again Whitehair and Eichelberg singled before a ground out by Maddie Huff scored Whitehair with the go-ahead run.

Marietta threatened in the bottom of the sixth as they got their first two base runners on board but failed to get them in and Middleton set the Colts down in order in the top of the seventh to set the stage for the dramatic finish.

Middleton got things started by collecting her third hit of the game, a double to right center field and one out later Westermeyer singled and promptly stole second to move both runners into scoring position.

Hogue worked the count to two-and-two before making solid contact and driving a ball through the Cloverleaf infield to plate the game-tying and game-winning runs.

Bailey, who had went hitless in her first three at-bats was glad to deliver the key blow for her team.

“I had kind of struggled early on and I just realized that I needed to do this for my team and I needed to get the hit,”said Hogue, the Tiger junior shortstop. “I just wanted to find a pitch I could hit and fortunately I did.”

Hill was glad to see Hogue come up with the key knock.

“She had made contact on her first few times at bat and we had been working on her getting her hands away from her body a little bit,” said Hill, whose team collected 11 hits in the game. “They gave her a pitch she could handle and she extended her arms and did what she needed to do which is drive the ball.”

Hogue’s walk-off made a winner in the circle of Middleton, who scattered eight base-hits while striking out 10 Colt hitters in the game in addition to collecting three hits while scoring three of the five Tiger runs.

“She is going to be a big-time pitcher,” said Hill of her freshman right hander who did not walk a single Colt batter in the game. “She was doing her job on the mound and we just had to do ours at the plate.”

Marietta (2-2) will travel to Athens today while Cloverleaf (1-1) will play in Parkersburg.