Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Softball Faces First Place East Carolina This Weekend
4/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 24, 2009
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - After playing 22 home contests already in 2009, the Marshall University Softball team will wrap-up home play this weekend as it hosts Conference USA foe East Carolina starting Saturday at 1 p.m. EST with a doubleheader at Dot Hicks Field.
The Pirates (36-12, 17-4) come into Huntington this weekend sitting atop the standings in Conference USA while the Thundering Herd (26-15, 9-6) is in third place. During the regular season last year, the teams played two games in Greenville as Marshall took both games 5-3 and 6-3.
The two met again in the C-USA tournament in the first round as East Carolina came out on top in that round 7-2. Overall, Marshall leads the series 8-5 and 6-3 as a conference series. In the last meeting in West Virginia, the Herd won two out of three.
The Herd is coming off a big performance against Morehead State Thursday as junior Katie Murphree (Tallahassee, Fla.) and senior Autumn Mitchell (Shady Spring, W.Va.) both threw complete game one-hit shut outs in a pair of victories.
In game one, Murphree carried a perfect game into the fifth inning before giving up her first hit while Mitchell gave up her hit in the first innings as both pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts, one walk and one hit batter.
With the victories, both pitchers picked up their 10th wins of the season as Murphree picked up her second complete game shutout and Mitchell's first of the year. The last time Marshall pitched back-to-back shutouts was March 25, 2006 against UAB.
Sitting atop the standings in Conference USA, East Carolina dominates the league in most pitching categories. Toni Paisley has 29 complete games in 31 starts with a 27-7 record with a 1.19 ERA. In 229.1 innings of work this season, Paisley has 259 strikeouts and has only allowed 39 earned run coming into Huntington.
Behind her, Brooke Swann has a 2.00 ERA with seven wins and Caitlin Wainright is 2-4 with a 2.23 ERA.Offensively, the Pirates are led by Jessica Johnson who leads the team in hits with 48, 31 RBIs and seven home runs.
Gametracker will be available for both contests. Live broadcast can be heard on WMUL 88.1 FM and at http://www.marshall.edu/wmul. In between games one and two, Marshall will have a ceremony with the Lil' Sis Program honoring them for their appreciation day. Sunday's game at 12 p.m. EST will feature a ceremony before hand to honor the 2009 senior class.
