Marshall University Athletics
Herd Heads to Lexington, Ky. for First Regional Tournament
5/15/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 15, 2013
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Thundering Herd is headed to Lexington, Ky. in the chase to win a regional title and super regional spot for the first time. The Marshall softball team (35-20) will first face host-team No. 12 seeded Kentucky (38-18).
Out of the three opponents Marshall will face in the regional, the Herd has a winning-series record with only one, Notre Dame.
Unlike Kentucky, which Marshall played this season, it has been more than five years since the Herd has faced the Fighting Irish (2005) and Hokies (2006) - associate head coach, Amanda Williams was playing for Marshall at the time.
Entering the weekend, several Marshall players hold national rankings. Senior hurler Andi Williamson ranks second in strikeouts (344) and third in victories (32). Senior Ashley Gue and freshman Kaelynn Greene trail one another in stolen bases - Gue ranking 30th with 32 and .58 per game, while Greene is closely behind in the 32nd rank with 31 total and .57 per game. Both base runners, along with the rest of the Marshall team have stolen enough bases to put Marshall at No. 2 in the nation with 123 total and 2.48 per game.
In postseason, Williamson is 3-0 and has a 0.00 ERA coming out of the Conference USA Tournament, where she earned the MVP in the team's first conference championship victory. Since regular season ended, Marshall has three players hitting .500 - Jazmine Valle (4-for-8), Savanah Webster (3-for-6) and Alexandra Bayne (2-for-4). In the tournament, Valle led the team in hits (4), total bases (8), slugging percentage (1.000) and was the only player in Marshall's lineup to hit a home run.
The Wildcats and Herd last faced off on April 9, where the Herd lost a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning and fell 4-3 on a walk-off single. Marshall is looking to regain some lost ground in the Wildcat-Herd series, in which Kentucky has a 9-2 advantage. The last time Marshall was victorious against Kentucky, was in Shonda Stanton's second year as a head coach (2001). The Herd traveled to Chattanooga, Tenn. for the Sonic Challenge and beat the Wildcats 10-5.
Marshall has a 1-0 advantage against Notre Dame, only playing each other in Williams' junior year at Marshall (2005). The contest was played in the Buckeye Invitational in Columbus, Ohio, where the Herd defeated the Fighting Irish 7-4. Williams' went 2-for-4 with a double, one run and a stolen base in the victory.
Williams' senior year was the last time Marshall faced Virginia Tech. The Hokies, who hold a 7-4 record against Marshall, out-played the Herd in both games of a doubleheader in March of 2006. Game one was a well-fought battle, in which the Herd fell 9-5. Although the second game started in Marshall's favor, it ended in six via mercy rule after an eight-run fourth inning and walk-off in the sixth gave the Hokies a 12-5 victory. The veteran coach was 3-for-7 on the day with four runs, two RBIs, a homerun, one double and a stolen base.
All the games will be featured on ESPN3, and Marshall's games will be broadcasted by WMUL-FM. The schedule of games will be as follows:
Friday, May 17
Game 1 - Notre Dame vs. Virginia Tech - 5 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
Game 2 - Kentucky vs. Marshall - 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
Saturday, May 18
Game 3 - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 - 1 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
Game 4 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 - 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
Game 5 - Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 - 6 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
Sunday, May 19
Game 6 - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 -1 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
Game 7 - (If necessary) -3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
