Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Southern Miss
Softball Nips Southern Miss, 2-1 in 12 Innings
4/7/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 7, 2012
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Jazmine Valle's 12th inning home run was just enough to give Marshall softball a 2-1 win in 12 innings over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.
It is the longest game in term of innings that MU has won in C-USA play. It is the first 12 inning game for softball since the same teams played a 2006 game in Hattiesburg that USM won 3-2.
Both teams went scoreless until the Golden Eagles (11-21, 3-10 C-USA) scooted across a run in their half of the sixth inning and the Thundering Herd (21-15, 9-4 C-USA) answered with a run in the top of the seventh before the two teams played five extra frames for a nearly four hour contest.
Andi Williamson was stellar in the circle for Marshall. The junior went the whole way for the Herd, striking out 10 batters for her seventh double-digit strikeout game. She also allowed just six hits by USM. The win moved her record to 15-8 on the season.
Southern Miss was able to get on the board first when pinch runner Omeshia Moffett scored from an error by Herd center fielder Taylor Thompson, her first of the season, to place her squad up late 1-0 after six full innings.
With two outs and defeat starring them in the face, the Herd plated a run when Taylor Thompson made contact with the ball and the Golden Eagle third baseman Brittany Lilly threw the ball over her first baseman and Jessica Hughes scored to notch the game at one apiece. Marshall would be unable to score any more runs and send the game into the first of five extra frames.
It wasn't until inning 12 that one of the teams would strike for a run. Valle hit a home run to right center that put her club up one, 2-1. Williamson and the Herd locked down USM in their part of the inning. Good defensive plays by Valle and Alianna Telles and Ashley Gue wrapped up the game and the victory.
Rebecca Gamby went 4-for-5 with two doubles for her first career four hit game. It is also the first time she had two doubles in a game. Ashley Gue, Hughes, and Valle also had a multiple hit games.
Relief pitcher Beth Dietrich took the loss for Southern Miss, pitching nine complete innings from the bullpen. She allowed both Herd runs but didn't walk a batter.
The two teams will tangle twice tomorrow beginning at 11 a.m. ET. GameTracker will be available from HerdZone.com as will a live in-game chat. Live video from Southern Miss is not available for Saturday's games.
