Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
UCF
Murphree Strikesout 11 as Marshall Defeats UCF, 2-1
5/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 7, 2009
Box Score | Photos
EL PASO, Texas - The Marshall University softball team picked a 2-1 win over UCF in the opening round of the Helen of Troy Conference USA Softball Championships Thursday in El Paso, Texas.
The Co-Newcomer of the Year Junior Katie Murphree (Tallahassee, Fla.) struck out 11 UCF batters allowing just five hits and one run. The 11 strikeouts is a career best at Marshall for Murphree and improve to 14-7.
"That game was definitely a championship performance," head coach Shonda Stanton said. "Katie pitched her heart out in crucial situations. She came up with 11 Ks and had the bases loaded or runners in scoring position where she came out on top."
Both teams struggled throughout the first few innings as both pitchers were having no problem retiring batters. UCF loaded the bases in the third with two outs before Murphree struck out another batter to get out of the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, Marshall scored the game's first two runs as junior Marcena Bertoldo (Beaumont, Calif.) reached on a hit by pitch and freshman Alianna Telles (Sylmar, Calif.) singled to center field.
With two outs, the Herd used senior Rachel Schmidt (Alliance, Ohio) in a pinch hitting role and coming through in a clutch situation doubling to right center scoring two runners.
"I can't say enough about Schmidt," Stanton added. "She is player that can be in any line-up in our conference but for us we need her to be in that position to help us win a ball game and that's exactly what she did. She's been clutch and I'm so proud of her to be able to have that moment."
The Knights loaded the bases for a second time in the contest with one out but Murphree escaped the inning once again striking out the last two batters.
UCF tacked on a run in the seventh as Tiffani Lane advanced two bases on illegal pitches and scored as Abby McClain singled to short. Breanne Javier then flew out to third base to end the contest.
The Thundering Herd (31-19) will now face No.1 Tulsa. This will be the first time these two teams have met this season as the regular season series was snowed out in Oklahoma.
The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. EST and will be available on Gametracker and All-Access at http://www.conferenceusa.com/. WMUL 88.1 FM will also call the game on the airwaves and at http://www.marshall.edu/wmul.
