Marshall University Athletics
Softball Starts MAC Season
3/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Softball Starts MAC Season
3/24/2005
Deanna Tourville is one of six newcomers heading into their first conference action on Friday. Photo by Matt Riley |
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. ? The Marshall softball team has been across the country and back again in preparation of this point of the year, the beginning of the squad?s last year in the Mid-American Conference. The Herd squares off with the University at Buffalo on Friday and Saturday at Dot Hicks Field.
Marshall (14-11) dropped a pair of games at the University of Kentucky on Wednesday. Consecutive shutouts doomed the Herd, despite out-hitting the ?Cats in game one. Offensively, MU continues to get hefty performances from the top of the lineup. Rachel Folden (Baldwin Park, Calif.) (.463 batting average, 37 hits, 27 RBI) and Amanda Williams (Powder Springs, Ga.) (.402 batting average, 33 hits, eight doubles) pace the Herd while junior shortstop Jessica Williams (Powder Springs, Ga.) leads the aggressive squad with 13 swiped bases. In the circle, Randi Nielson (Tucson, Ariz.) is 8-5 following a 2-0 loss in game one versus UK and possesses a 4.06 ERA.
Buffalo, a team that took two of three in last year?s series in New York, heads to Huntington with a 4-17 record. The Bulls finished a spot higher than Marshall a year ago in the MAC East standings and also narrowly missed a trip to the MAC Tournament. Ann Magur and Mary Russell each boast .265 and .250 battting averages, respectively, to lead the Bulls? offense. Sophie Barstad is UB?s top pitching threat, posting a 2.82 record to coincide with a 2-6 record. The all-time series sits in favor of Marshall, 9-3.
The doubleheader on Friday is set to start at 1 p.m., as does Saturday's series finale.
