Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Softball Heads South for Wilson Tournament
2/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 12, 2009
TAMPA, Fla. - After a trip out west to start the 2009 season, the Marshall University softball team will travel south to the Sunshine State of Florida to compete in the 2009 Wilson Tournament hosted by USF.
The Thundering Herd (3-1) will face off against No. 10/12 Arizona in the opening game Friday before facing Hofstra and host USF Saturday. The weekend will wrap up with a Sunday morning contest against Illinois.
Marshall and the Arizona Wildcats have met three times with Arizona taking all three games. All of those games have been played on the Wildcats home field staring with a tournament game in 2005. The two teams clashed last season in a doubleheader.
The Herd and the Pride will meet for the third time this weekend. Hofstra has won both of the previous contests in 1996 and 1998 before Stanton was coaching at Marshall.
The tournament host and Marshall will meet for the first time Saturday. The Bulls finished last season with a record of 44-20. USF was the runner-up in the Big East Tournament and made an appearance in the NCAA Regionals.
Marshall has a 1-0 edge against Illinois as the two teams met in Stanton's first season in 2000. The Herd defeated the Fighting Illini 8-0 in a tournament hosted by Winthrop.
Junior Caitlyn Jackson (Ontario, Calif.) is leading the way in batting average and RBIs at .583 and six respectively. Sophomore Melanie Stoehr (Tacoma, Wash.) is right behind Jackson hitting .500 with five RBIs and a home run.
In the circle over the weekend, senior Autumn Mitchell (Shady Spring, W.Va.) picked up a complete game victory in the season opener as well as three innings of relief. She finished with 11 strikeouts and just one walk.
Marshall's game against Arizona is set for a 12:30 p.m. EST first pitch. Gametracker will be available for all games in Tampa.
