Herd Rallies Past Pirates, Hang onto 6-3 Victory

April 6, 2008

GREENVILLE, N.C. - After going five scoreless innings, the Herd rallied for three runs in the top of the sixth and added another three runs in the seventh to hang onto game one in Sunday afternoon's Conference USA doubleheader against East Carolina University, 6-3 at ECU Softball Field.

Marshall's (15-23, 5-7 C-USA) Samantha Rodriguez finished the game going 2-for-4 with a RBI, while junior shortstop Kelly Nielson recorded a triple with two RBIs.

The Herd's ace Caitlyn Jackson (7-14) earned the win in the complete-game effort. She went sixth-consecutive innings without surrendering a run and finished with three strikeouts, while lowering her season ERA to 4.40. In the opposing pitching circle was ECU's (25-17, 5-5) Brooke Swann (14-13) who recorded five scoreless innings before surrendering six runs in the final two.

Marshall jumped on the board with three runs in the sixth inning. With runners on first and second and two outs, freshman Melanie Stoehr delivered a single to center field scoring Rodriguez. Nielson continued the two-out rally with a triple to left field scoring both Herd runners giving Marshall the 3-0 lead.

The Herd extended its lead in the top of the seventh with three more runs. With one-out Deanna Tourville singled to left field and advanced to second on a Rachel Folden infield base hit. A throwing error by the catcher, a Rodriguez RBI single to right center and a Rachel Schmidt pinch-hit RBI single finished the Herd's scoring.

Trailing 6-0 in the bottom of the seventh, the Pirates could only cut the deficit in half to finish the game.

The Herd and Pirates had a pitcher's duel heading into the sixth. Both teams didn't allow a run in the first five innings of the contest.

Marshall's defense contributed to the effort in the bottom of the fifth inning. ECU's Charina Sumner started off the fifth with a triple to right field just out of the reach of the Herds outfielder Rachael Sofie. A hit by a pitch allowed for the next batter, Vanessa Moreno to reach base. Moreno stole second base resulting in two runners in scoring position with no outs for the Pirates.

Jackson forced a shallow pop up to left field by the Pirate's first baseman Jessica Johnson, which wasn't deep enough for a sacrifice fly. Erin St. Ledger grounded out to Jackson, unable to advance the runners. Cristen Aona was ECU's last attempt to score in the inning and she grounded out to Nielson in short to end the scoring threat.

The Herd and Pirates will finish its doubleheader at 1 p.m. (ET). Free GameTracker will be provided via www.HerdZone.com.

Marshall University 6, East Carolina 3 (Apr 06, 2008 at Greenville, N.C.) (Game 1)----------------------------------------------------------------------Marshall University. 000 003 3 -  6  9  1      (15-23, 5-7)East Carolina....... 000 000 3 -  3  9  2      (25-17, 5-5)----------------------------------------------------------------------Pitchers: Marshall University - Jackson, Caitlyn. East Carolina - SWANN, Brooke.Win-JACKSON, Caitlyn(7-14)  Loss-SWANN, Brooke(14-13)  T-1:55  A-0Weather: Cloudy

Herd Rallies Past Pirates, Hang onto 6-3 Victory

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Players Mentioned

Rachel Folden

Caitlyn Jackson

Kelly Nielson

Samantha Rodriguez

Rachel Schmidt

Rachael Sofie

Melanie Stoehr

Deanna Tourville

Marshall University Athletics

Herd Rallies Past Pirates, Hang onto 6-3 Victory

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Rachel Folden

Caitlyn Jackson

Kelly Nielson

Samantha Rodriguez

Rachel Schmidt

Rachael Sofie

Melanie Stoehr

Deanna Tourville

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