Marshall University Athletics
Georgia Classic Next Up for Softball
2/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 17, 2011
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Continuing its month-long journey of road games is the Marshall University softball team, which will head to its second-consecutive tournament down south for the 8th Annual Georgia Softball Classic in Athens, Ga.
Marshall opens the Georgia Classic when it faces NC State at 11 a.m. on Friday, followed by a 3 p.m. showdown against former MAC rival Buffalo. The Herd returns on Saturday to face North Dakota State at 9 a.m. and then takes on No. 2 Georgia at 1 p.m. Closing out the tournament is a 11 a.m. contest against Winthrop on Sunday.
The Thundering Herd came out of its opening weekend at the South Florida Wilson-DeMarini Tournament with a 2-3 record after dropping two games on Friday to South Florida (8-4) and No. 5 Florida (17-1, 5). On Saturday, Marshall fell to Florida Gulf Coast (1-0) before registering its first win of the season against Long Island (6-3). In its final game of the weekend, the Herd had a come-from-behind win against North Carolina State (6-4) on Sunday.
Tops in the box for MU is Taylor Winton, who has a team-best .455 batting average, .818 slugging percentage and .417 on-base percentage. In the freshmen's first collegiate at-bat she knocked in a solo homer to right center against USF - junior transfer Amanda Lara also accomplished the feat during her first at-bat with the Herd. Three pitches into Marshall's 2011 season, leadoff hitter Lara hit a long ball to right field.
MU's added depth in the pitching rotation is paced by Andi Williamson and Natalee Pulver. Williamson (2-2) recorded wins against LIU and NC State to give the Herd a two-game winning streak heading into the weekend. Thus far she has struck out 14 batters, in as many innings for Marshall, made three starts in four appearances while holding opponents to a .146 batting average. Pulver (0-1) leads the staff in innings logged, with 16.0. The freshman threw her first complete game in a 1-0 loss to FGCU last Saturday.
Tournament Breakdown
NC State
Marshall's final opponent in the Herd's opening weekend, finished 2-3 at the USF Wilson-DeMarini Tournament beating FGCU (8-2) and LIU (7-5). Led at the plate by Bridget Desbois, who is hitting at a .625 clip with 10 hits, six RBI, and .647 on-base percentage.
The Wolfpack has a 7.11 ERA as a staff - both Kayla Cox and Morgan Peeler have one win a piece. Cox leads the club with 22 strikeouts in 15.1 innings of work.
Buffalo
With a slow 0-5 start this season, Jessica Griffin leads the Bulls with a .333 batting average, four hits and .429 on-base percentage. An equally-played pitching crew of Tori Speckman (0-1), Holly Johnson (0-2) and Haylee Land (0-2) hold a 9.00 ERA. Speckman has a team-best 12 strikeouts in 13.1 innings pitched and two starts.
North Dakota State
The 2010 Summit League Tournament Champions are 1-4 in 2011, with its sole win coming against UCF. Nicole Rivera is the Bison's force to be reckoned with at the plate, as she is hitting at a .428 clip with seven hits and five runs scored. Pitchers Whitney Johnson (1-2) and Katie Tamayo (0-2) share the majority of the time in the circle - Johnson has logged 17.0 innings pitched with seven strikeouts; Tamayo has worked 14.2 innings in the circle with two strikeouts.
Winthrop
The Eagles are 2-2 after victories against Furman and Coastal Carolina last weekend. Winthrop, who is hitting as a troop with a .355 average, has six athletes hitting above a .400 batting average - led by Teja Durante who has a team-best .571 average and four runs scored.
Freshman Natalie Becker (1-0) holds a staff-best 4.82 ERA in 9.1 innings pitched and 20 strikeouts. Ashlei Jackson (1-1) and Chelsey Schoenfeldt (0-1) have each seen time in the circle as well, with 7.2 and 5.0 innings pitched, respectively.
No. 2 Georgia
A club that finished last season with a 50-13 record and a Women's College World Series appearance, the Bulldogs are just as strong in 2011 returning all of their position starters. Georgia opened with a squeaky clean 5-0 record at home, including a 1-0 win over ECU. A tandem at the plate of Ashley Pauly and Brianna Hesson proves lethal as the duo leads the team in nearly every hitting category. Pauly paces the club with a .545 batting average, six hits and a .500 on-base percentage - Hesson is hitting at a .400 clip and has a team-best four runs scored, three home runs, six RBI and a 1.000 slugging percentage.
Georgia premiers a pitching staff with a 1.60 ERA, led by Morgan Montemayor who brandishes three wins in 13.0 innings of work and 17 strikeouts. Erin Arevalo (1-0) has 17 strikeouts in 10.1 innings while Katie Murphy has a team-best 0.00 ERA in 6.0 innings pitched with nine strikeouts.
Fans can follow along with Marshall softball by watching GameTracker and keep up to date with the latest news and scores by visiting herdzone.com.
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