Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Middle Tennessee State
@HerdSB Gets Saturday Sweep
4/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
 MURFREESBORO, TN. -- Marshall softball (27-10, 8-5 Conference USA) won both games of Saturday's Conference USA double header against Middle Tennessee (15-22, 2-15 C-USA). The Herd win game one 9-0 in five innings and game two 14-7.Â
Marshall has now won nine straight games, its longest streak in 2015. The Herd has also won four consecutive Conference USA games.
GAME ONE
Marshall got started early in the first, when leadoff batter Morgan Zerkle tripled to left center. Second baseman Elicia D'Orazio then hit a sacrifice fly to left field that allowed the speedy Zerkle to beat the throw home and make the score 1-0 Herd.
In the second inning, junior Kaelynn Greene doubled to left center, bringing around senior Emileigh Cooper and junior Rebecca Myslenski to make the score 3-0.
In the third, Marshall exploded to score five runs. It started when junior Shaelynn Braxton singled, then advanced to second on a fielding error by the short stop. The next batter, freshman Taylor McCord, singled to bring Braxton home.
Junior Katalin Lucas then hit a home run to left field, her fifth of the season. After Lucas, freshman Jordan Colliflower scored off of a single by Cooper. Greene continued her successful day by scoring Cooper with an RBI to center field. The scoring was capped off in the third after D'Orazio got a hit and Zerkle scored to make the score 8-0.
In the fourth inning, freshman Kylie Howard pinch hit for Rebecca Myslenski, singling down the right side to score Lucas and make the score 9-0. Marshall would hold onto that score to get its eighth straight win.
Marshall pitcher Jordan Dixon moved to 24-10 after allowing just three hits and striking out nine batters.
GAME TWO
Marshall scored in the top of the first again, when Braxton stole second, Zerkle scored on the throw.
Middle Tennessee took the lead in the bottom of the second, with a home run, but Marshall was able to score four in the top of the third. First D'Orazio doubled to score Zerkle, then Braxton hit a two run home run to left field, her fourth of the season. Next, Katalin Lucas scored pinch runner Madi Marshall with a double.
In the fourth, Greene and Braxton both hit sacrifice flies to score Colliflower and Zerkle.
Myslenski made her presence known in the fifth, when she double to score freshman Kylie Howard. Zerkle was then able to bat in Myslenski on a fielder's choice and Cooper scored on an error.
Middle Tennessee would hit another home run in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 10-3.
 In the top of the seventh, Cooper hit her second home run of the season to make it 11-3. The Herd would go on to pick up the win in the seventh 14-3. Marshall's 11 stolen bases in game two were a season high, with the previous high of eight against Bucknell on Feb. 14.Â
STANTON'S STATEMENTS
 Link to Herd coach Shonda Stanton's postgame.
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Marshall and Middle Tennessee will wrap up the series tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET.
