Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
East Carolina
Herd Falls To Pirates
3/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 28, 2010
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The Thundering Herd softball team fell 10-0 in five innings to East Carolina on Sunday afternoon, moving Marshall to 16-16 on the year and 2-7 in Conference USA.
"In playing one of the best pitchers in C-USA we knew we had to have a solid performance in all phases of the game, similar to game one yesterday," said head coach Shonda Stanton. "We did not get that, which made for a challenging day on the field."
Marina Gusman-Brown opened Sunday's game with a home run to center field to give ECU (15-12, 2-1 C-USA) a 1-0 start in the first.
ECU extended its lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the third when Kaui Tom drove in Kai Clark from second with two outs on the board.
Marshall would then call in Caitlyn Jackson for Katie Murphree to get the final out of the inning, but a walk to Cristen Aona would push around Priscilla Velasquez; followed by a single from Gusman-Brown to plate Tom and Sissy Jimenez to give the Pirates a 5-0 advantage.
The Pirates would continue to add pressure in the fourth, forcing MU to make a pair of pitching changes. Rachel Rillo came in for Jackson, to face four batters before Jessica Ferrick would close the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, ECU nabbed runs from Charina Sumner and Clark to make it 7-0. Cicely Lopez and Priscilla Velasquez then came home on a Tom homer to give the Pirates a 10-0 mercy rule.
Murphree was the pitcher of record after 2.2 innings of work, moving her to 10-9 on the year. Toni Paisley (10-7) captured the win for ECU.
Alianna Telles, Bri Anna Hope and Marcena Bertoldo each tallied one hit in the contest for the Herd.
"We are midway through our 10 game road swing and now needs to be the point in the season where we turn things around," Stanton said.
Next up for Marshall softball is a Conference USA series at Memphis on April 2nd and 3rd. Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 5 p.m. (EST), with Sunday's game slated for a 1 p.m. (EST) start.
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