Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Concludes Regular Season with UCF at Home
5/4/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 4, 2012
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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall softball will put the finishing touches on its regular season when it host UCF in a three game series starting Saturday at Dot Hicks Field.
The series begins Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1p.m. Saturday's action will be NFCA Strikeout Cancer Day in which money will be raised from donations towards the amount of strikeouts during action. MU will sport commemorative pink jerseys during the afternoon. The series concludes Sunday with senior day at 12 p.m. The seven seniors from this year's team will be honored before the game.
The Thundering Herd (31-20, 12-9 C-USA) can go as high as third in the final Conference USA standings. Marshall though will need to take all three from the Knights (39-13, 16-6 C-USA) to do so. The Herd is assured a top six finish and be guaranteed a top five finish with a win or East Carolina loss. Depending on the result of Houston's games versus Southern Miss, MU can finish in the fourth spot. The C-USA tournament begins Thursday at Birmingham, Ala.
Marshall is coming off a series loss on the road at East Carolina. The Herd was able to capture the first game of the series with a six inning, 8-0 victory. Andi Williamson picked her 20th win of the season, becoming the fifth pitcher to have a 20 win season. The Pirates though stifled MU in the remainder of the series, holding the Herd scoreless for 13 of the 14 innings played.
The offense for the Herd has been led by Rebecca Gamby for the past month. During April, Gamby went 23-for-49 (.469) with 12 RBI, seven extra base hits, six walks, and 10 runs scored. Alianna Telles has also been strong as of late. She has raised her overall average to .311 while her batting average of .319 in C-USA games only is a team best. Telles has also smacked a career and team high 14 doubles this season.
This weekend will feature two C-USA Pitchers of the Year candidates. The Herd's Williamson is tied for second in the conference for wins, behind the leader, Mackenzie Audas of UCF. The freshman is 21-7 and coming off a midweek no-hitter. To date, she has compiled a 1.05 ERA with a league best 245 strikeouts. Her teammate Ali Schmidt (13-3) has also compiled an impressive 1.61 earned run average in 126 innings of work.
The Knights feature one of the best overall hitters in C-USA. Natalie Land has a .341 batting average and a team high 59 hits, 51 runs scored, 39 stolen bases, eight home runs, and five triples. Farrah Sullivan is another power source with a team high 35 RBI and 12 doubles, while batting .293.
Admission is free for each game this weekend. Those wishing to follow the game away from the field can access GameTracker for live stats and Herd All-Access for video from HerdZone.com. Action can also be heard on WMUL 88.1 FM and www.marshall.edu/WMUL.
