Marshall University Athletics
Akron On Tap for Softball
4/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Akron On Tap for Softball
4/23/2004
Sierra Davenport will take her league-leading hit tally (62) to Akron this weekend as the Herd looks to stay afloat in the playoff race. (Photo by Matt Riley) |
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. ? With three series left in the regular season, the Marshall University softball team heads to Mid-American Conference East Division-rival Akron on Saturday and Sunday for an important showdown with the Zips.
Marshall (27-22, 8-7) dropped a pair of games on Wednesday to West preseason favorite and current conference-leading Central Michigan, 5-3 and 6-3, in Mount Plesant. The Chippewas exploded for 18 hits against the Herd in the twinbill. Sarah Wilson (Washington, W.Va.) crunched home run number six in game one and Amanda Williams (Powder Springs, Ga.) added two more RBIs to her league-leading total (40).
The Herd?s two veteran hurlers, junior Randi Nielson (Tucson, Ariz.) and senior Sarah Chamberlain (Moses Lake, Wash.), both saw starts in Wednesday?s action, with each picking up a loss to CMU. Nielson will bring an even slate (12-12) to Akron this weekend, while Chamberlain sits at 6-2 in 2004.
Akron (19-22, 3-11) split a doubleheader with the Youngstown State Penguins on Thursday, 3-4 and 3-1. The Zips have the second most prolific batting average in the conference, batting .256 this season. Kelly Quigley is hitting a solid .346 to lead the Zip offense while her eight home runs this season falls one shy of MU?s Leigh Wintter?s (Acworth, Ga.) conference-pacing number (9). On the mound, Tina McCauley boasts a 1.84 ERA and 174 strikeouts this season with a 12-10 record.
If the regular season were to end today, Marshall would slide into the tournament at the sixth and final slot with an 8-7 record while holding the tiebreaker with Bowling Green. The Herd has remaining games against Akron, at Buffalo (15-19, 5-6) and at home against Kent State (19-15, 10-3). Head coach Shonda Stanton said the Herd is weary not to look too far ahead.
?We need to take care of Akron,? Stanton said. ?We are going to take everything one game at a time and contiue to push for wins down the stretch.?
The MU/Akron three-game venture begins with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Saturday and concludes with a 1 p.m. game on Sunday.