Marshall University Athletics
Herd Softball Completes Sweep In Dramatic Fashion
3/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Herd Softball Completes Sweep In Dramatic Fashion
3/8/2003
De'Shaun Drake had a phenomenal day for the Herd, picking up the win on the mound in the first contest and blasting the game tying home run in the night cap. |
HUNTINGTON, W.V. - The Marshall University softball team swept a pair of games on Dot Hicks Field Saturday in the Radisson Softball Classic. The Herd took the 4-1 victory over Cleveland State University in the first contest and defeated the University of Dayton 4-3 in the night cap.
Marshall took care of Cleveland State 4-1 in the Herd?s first contest of the day. The game remained scoreless until the third inning when the Herd struck with two runs.
Courtney Kacenega (Sierra Vista, Ariz.) drew a walk to start things off. MU?s Sierra Davenport (Tucson, Ariz.) placed an infield hit before Amanda Williams (Powder Springs, Ga.) singled, scoring Kacenega. A hard ground ball by De?Shaun Drake (Spring Valley, Calif.) brought Davenport home from third, to make the score 2- 0 after three.
The Vikings (1-3) countered in the bottom of the fourth inning with a solo home run by Anna Hubert, to cut Marshall?s lead to 2-1.
Allison Webb (Wayne, WV) was hit by a pitch to lead off the sixth inning. Noelle Adams (Wheeling, WV) came into to replace Webb, running at first base. Leigh Wintter (Acworth, Ga.) placed a perfect bunt single to move Adams to third. Huntington native, Karri Britt singled to left field to score Adams and move Missy Workman (Huntington, WV), in to pitch run for Wintter, to second. A sacrifice bunt by Sara Spenia (Las Vegas, NV) moved up the runners. Next to the plate, Kacenega jacked a deep sacrific fly to left field that scored Workman. That score would hold up with the final 4-1 in favor of the Herd.
Drake (3-1) earned the complete game win giving up only four hits and striking out 11. Davenport, Britt, and Amanda Williams each had two hits to lead the Herd.
Against Dayton, Marshall's starting pitcher Randi Nielson (Tucson, Ariz.) struck out the side in the top of the first to open the second game of the day for the Herd. However, the Flyers struck in the top of the third scoring one run off hits by Tracy Weinheimer and Dana Campbell.
In the bottom of the fourth inning the Herd evened the score at one. Drake reached third on a pair of errors by the Flyer?s left fielder. Webb knocked Drake in with a towering double to center field.
The Flyers countered in the top of the fifth inning scoring off an RBI single by Dana Campbell, but the Herd came through with a double play to escape the inning. In the bottom of the inning three straight singles set the stage for the Herd to tie the game with an RBI single by Amanda Williams.
The international tie-breaker rule took effect in the top of the eighth, placing a runner on second base. The Flyers were able to push the runner across on a solo hit in the inning and take the lead, 3-2.
The Herd?s De?Shaun Drake had an answer for Dayton. After Amanda Williams was cut down trying to steal third, Drake blasted a towering home run over the fence and on to the tennis courts at Marshall University to tie the game at three through eight innings.
The starting pitcher, Nielson, forced a strikeout and a Dayton fly out for the first two outs of the ninth. Drake then answered on the defensive side of the ball for the Herd, gunning out the Flyer runner at the plate for the final out of the inning and denying Dayton the go ahead run.
In the bottom half of the inning Spenia moved the runner at second, Adams, to third on a sacrifice bunt before Kacenga stepped to the plate to line a hit to left field and win the game for the Herd, 4-3.
Nielson went the full nine innings and picked up her seventh win of the season on the mound for the Herd. Davenport went 3-for-4 in the game to lead the Herd at the plate.
Marshall improves its record to 13-5 overall on the season with the pair of victories. The Herd will return to action in the final day of the Radisson Softball Classic Sunday as they take on Morehead State University at 2:00 p.m. and the University of Dayton at 4:00 p.m.
