Marshall University Athletics
Eagles Use Eight Run Inning To Down Herd, 13-5
2/28/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Eagles Use Eight Run Inning To Down Herd, 13-5
2/28/2003
CHATTANOOGA, TN - The Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles used an eight run second inning to down the Marshall Unviersity softball team, 13-5. Despite nine Thundering Herd hits, including two Amanda Williams home runs, Marshall fell to 6-3 on the season.
?The two things that have been there for us have been our pitching and our defense and they weren?t there today,? head coach Shonda Stanton said. ?Offensively we never gave up, but we were not pleased with our performance on the other end. Fortunately we get to come back tonight and pull it all together.?
Amanda Williams (Powder Springs, GA) blasted the first home run of her collegiate career in the form of a towering shot over the center field fence in the top of the first inning that got the Herd on the board. The Golden Eagles came right back to even the score at one off of a hit and a Marshall error in the bottom of the inning.
Tennessee Tech broke the game wide open in the bottom of the second, shelling the Herd with eight hits, including two doubles. The Golden Eagles scored eight runs off those hits to take a 9-1 lead after two innings.
The Herd however did not lay down as De?Shaun Drake (Spring Valley, CA) got things going with a single in the top of the fourth and came around to score on an Allison Webb (Wayne, WV) base hit. Karri Britt (Hungintgon, WV) and Courtney Kacenga (Sierra Vista, AZ) followed the trend with solid base hits of their own to load the bases with two outs. MU?s leadoff batter Jessica Williams (Powder Springs, GA) came through in the clutch, lining another hit to center and plating Noelle Adams (Wheeling, WV), who was in to run for Webb, and Britt. Marshall had fought back to within five runs, but the Eagles came back to score two runs in the bottom of the fourth off three walks and a well-timed base hit to go ahead 11-4.
Amanda Williams added her second long ball of the contest, again to centerfield, in the top of the fifth inning, making the score 11-5. The hard-hitting Eagles came right back to score two more runs in the sixth and the game ended due to the mercy rule with the final tally 13-5.
Drake, Webb and Amanda Williams all went 2-for-3 on the contest. Jessica Williams drove in two runs for the Herd. Randi Nielson (Tucson, AZ) suffered the loss on the mound, giving up six hits and striking out two. Nielson falls to 4-1 on the mound for the season.
Marshall will return to action at the UTC Frost Classic this evening as they take on the host team at 7:00 p.m. in Frost Stadium.
