Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Seton Hall
Marshall Wins Season Opener Over Seton Hall, 5-3
2/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 6, 2009
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Sophomore Melanie Stoehr (Tacoma, Wash.) and junior Marcena Bertoldo (Beaumont, Calif.) homered as Marshall picked up a season opening win against Seton Hall Friday at the Sportco Kickoff Classic hosted by UNLV.
With Friday's win, The Thundering Herd (1-0) has now won the last seven season openers going back to the 2003 season.
"It was great to get our first win," head coach Shonda Stanton said. "What I'm most proud of is that we made some mistakes there in the first inning then we made an adjustment and got a huge double play so it changed the game for us."
The Herd found themselves in bad spot to start off the game when the Pirates put runners on the corners with no outs when Seton Hall attempted a double steal of second and home.
The Pirates' Michelle Reed was able to take second but Leah Menichetti was thrown out at home by freshman shortstop Alianna Telles (Sylmar, Calif.) and Stoehr went down to third to catch Reed for the double play.
The Herd would come out with some offensive power in the first when leadoff batter Rachael Sofie (Everett, Wash.) started with a double to centerfield. After a J.J. Bitner (Virginia Beach, Va.) pop out and a Telles groundout, junior Caitlyn Jackson (Ontario, Calif.) would single to right to score Sofie from second.
With a runner on first, Stoehr would hit the team's first home run of the 2009 season and fifth for her career to give Marshall a 3-0 lead after one inning. Stoehr would finish the game going 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
Bertoldo's home run in the bottom half of the second would be the first of her career at Marshall and extended Marshall's lead to four.
The Pirates would fight back in the third with one out and three hits in a row with a Menichelli double to center to cut the lead in half 4-2.
In the bottom of the fourth, senior Kelly Nielson (Tucson, Ariz.) singled to right with one out. With sophomore Jessica Hughes (Stillwater, Okla.) pinch running, freshman Samantha Spurlock (Huntington, W.Va.) doubled to left scoring Hughes.
Seton Hall would cut the lead back to two in the fifth after pinch runner Bontales scored from second following a Nalin Bennett double to left.
The Herd would keep the Pirates at bay though thanks to senior pitcher Autumn Mitchell (Shady Spring, W.Va.) who struck out nine batters in a complete game victory allowing two earned runs. Jackson would be the only other Herd player with two hits and one RBI. Bertoldo and Spurlock both finished with one RBI apiece.
"I like the way that we came out playing but I hope it continues and we put pressure on them to keep playing," Stanton said.
Marshall takes on the host team, UNLV following today's contest against Seton Hall at 3:15 EST. Gametracker will be available and keep checking herdzone.com for full results.
