Marshall University Athletics
Softball Beats Hoosiers 9-4
2/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Softball Beats Hoosiers 9-4
2/8/2004
- Box Score
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. ? Amanda Williams (Powder Springs, Ga.) knocked out two home runs and freshman pitcher Amanda Luers (Dover, Ohio) got her first career win as the Marshall University softball team took down Big Ten foe Indiana, 9-4, in the consolation game of the Triple Crown Classic on Sunday.
The Herd (3-2) battled the Hoosiers (2-3) in a two and a half hour slugfest.
After a scoreless first inning for both teams, MU starting pitcher Sarah Chamberlain (Moses Lake, Wash.) put runners at first and second with consecutive walks when IU?s Tori Yamaguchi sent a shot to right field, only to be snagged on the first hop by Sierra Davenport (Tucson, Ariz.) and relayed to third to catch an IU runner. With two outs, Rachel Terry sent a short fly ball to right field, sending in Indiana?s first run of the game. In the same play, the Herd caught another greedy Hoosier runner at third to end the inning.
In the bottom of the second, Leigh Wintter (Acworth, Ga.) was hit by a pitch and pinch runner Noelle Adams (Wheeling, W.Va.) stole second and advanced to third on an error by the IU catcher. Jennifer Susman (Lewisburg, W.Va.) got her first hit and RBI of the 2004 season with a rip to left field scoring Adams and tying the ball game at 1-1.
MU bats stayed hot through the inning, when Sarah Wilson (Washington, W.Va.) drove a single to left field and Jennifer Jones (Proctorville, Ohio) (pinch running for Susman) stole third only to be scored the next pitch by an infield hit from Sara Spenia (Las Vegas, NV).
Indiana fired back immediately, kicking off the third inning with a single and a fielder?s choice and putting a runner at second who was scored by a Kim Richards double.
The onslaught continued when one batter later, IU?s Lauren Hines dispatched a two-run home run over the center field fence, putting the Hoosiers up by three and causing a pitching change for the Herd.
Luers took the mound in relief for Chamberlain and got in trouble early giving up two more hits but exited the potentially disastarous inning by fielding a ball to leave two Hoosiers on base.
Davenport ran out a bunt to start off the Herd in the third, bringing up 2003 MAC Freshman of the Year A. Williams. She proceeded to send a Megan Roark pitch sailing over the center field fence for a two-run home run and evening the score, prompting the Hoosiers Christy Wahl to take the mound. Wahl struckout two consecutive batters to end the inning.
The Hoosiers could muster nothing in the top of the fourth, but after Davenport managed to dash out another bunt, MU was in an eerily familiar situation with A. Williams at the plate.
For the second inning in a row, the sophomore sent a missile over the fence, driving in Davenport and knotting up the win for Marshall.
An Allison Webb (Wayne, W.Va.) roundtripper gave the Herd another run in the fifth inning, while a double off the fence by Wintter drove in Davenport and A. Williams in the Herd?s final at bat to settle the game at 9-4.
Davenport went 3-for-4 as the Herd compiled a season-high 11 hits.
Luers moved to 1-0 on the season with the win while Roark took the loss on the mound for Indiana.
The next stop for MU is the Triangle Classic in Raleigh, N.C. where the Herd will take on Fordham University on Feb. 13 at 11 a.m.
