Herd Softball Falls 2-1 To UTEP

March 14, 2010

EL PASO, Texas- The Marshall University softball team (14-10, 0-3) fell 2-1 late in the game to the UTEP Miners on Sunday at Helen of Troy Field.

The Thundering Herd fell behind 1-0 after leadoff hitter Kia Moore put UTEP (18-8, 3-0) ahead in the first inning with an inside-the-park home run to right center.

"It was surprising offensively that we did not make the adjustments that we needed to make to provide the run support for Katie," said head coach Shonda Stanton. "We have to regroup and work hard this week and get ready for UAB."

Marshall would come back to tie the game at 1-1 in the sixth, when Taylor Thompson crossed the plate on a Jazmine Valle hit to center that resulted in a Miner error.

The score would remain tied until the bottom of the seventh when the Miners claimed the 2-1 win on a Camilla Carrera hit that brought home Kayla Oranger.

Katie Murphree pitched 6.1 innings in the loss, moving her to 8-6 on the season. The senior struck out five batters along the way.

"Katie pitched an awesome game for us," said Stanton. "Unfortunately we did not get the run support. These are two teams that average seven-plus hits a game and today going into the seventh inning both teams only had two hits. If Katie continues to do what she did today, we will be ok because offensively we are too good of a hitting team to not perform."

Stacie Townsend (15-5) garnered the win for UTEP in seven innings of work.

Marshall will return to host UAB at 2 p.m. on Friday, March 19. The Herd will then play a doubleheader on Saturday, March 20th, starting at 1 p.m. at Dot Hicks Field.

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Players Mentioned

Katie Murphree

Taylor Thompson

Jazmine Valle

Marshall University Athletics