Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
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UTEP
Offense Pushes Softball Past the Miners
4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 1, 2012
EL PASO, Texas - The Thundering Herd softball team was able to get their bats working and survive against UTEP to take two victories Saturday from Helen of Troy Field.
Marshall (19-14, 7-4 C-USA) used early leads in both games and withstood UTEP (12-23, 2-10 C-USA) throughout both contests to edge the Miners 7-5 and 7-6 respectively.
"We worked hard this week on situational hitting and we were able to accomplish our offensive goals," said head coach Shonda Stanton. "We were selective in game one by drawing eight walks and in game two we had 14 hits.
Game One
Bri Anna Hope started things early for her squad with a single that drove in two runs in the first inning. Another two run inning followed in the second to put Marshall up 4-0 early.
UTEP and their powerful offense would not go down without a fight. Kayla Black gave the Miners three runs in the third when she smacked a three run home run over the right field fence to squeeze the Herd lead to one, 4-3.
A trio of one run innings starting in the fourth would help Marshall maintain its lead. Alianna Telles, Jessica Hughes, and Hope all batted in a run to give MU a total of seven runs in the contest. Hope would finish the game with two hits and three runs batted in to lead her team at the plate.
The Miner offense though would not let up. In the fifth, after a wild pitch that scored one, Ashley Collazo connected for a single that scored one run and at the time put her squad within a run at 6-5.
The Herd's starting pitcher Andi Williamson though limited UTEP through the final innings. She stopped any threat from the opposition in the sixth when got two strikeouts to end the inning and leave three UTEP runners on. The junior capped off the MU win in the seventh with three straight outs, including two of her career high 14 strikeouts in the game.
Williamson picked up the win (13-8) while UTEP starter Joanna Krienitz (3-3) took the loss.
Game Two
Marshall scored runs in the first three innings to jump out to six run lead. One run came in the first, which was followed by three runs in the next inning. Amanda Lara's sacrifice bunt attempt allowed her to reach first and Samantha Spurlock to score. Lara would come around as Alianna Telles had one of her four singles of the evening to put MU up 4-0. A home run from Jazmine Valle gave the Herd its largest lead of the game at 6-0.
The Miner offense came roaring back as they answered the Herd's lead with back-to-back home runs from the top hitters in C-USA, Chelsea Troupe and Camilla Carrera put their squad within three at 6-3 after the third.
After an Alysia Hively RBI single in the sixth inning, UTEP plated three runs to get them within one run at 7-6. Kayla Oranger drove in two runs with a single and wild pitch by Williamson, who entered in relief, put the Miners within in one. However, the Herd defense made two critical plays in the seventh and survived for a one run win.
Marshall had 14 hits, which included three from Hively, and two each from Melissa Loesing and Ashley Gue. Natalee Pulver (5-5) picked up her fifth victory of the season in five innings of work, allowing three hits by UTEP. Williamson earned her first save of the season.
"Andi struck out 14 in game one and Natalee limited a great hitting team in the second game to help us grab today's wins," said Stanton.
"Tomorrow I would like us to be sharper on the base paths and be able to finish the weekend strong."
Game three of the series will be at 1 p.m. ET. Live chat, GameTracker, and video from All-Access will all be available on HerdZone.com.
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