Marshall University Athletics
@HerdSB on the Road to Birmingham
4/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Marshall softball hits the road for its third trip to the state of Alabama in 2016, to face off with the UAB Blazers in Conference USA action. Marshall is 19-13 overall and 5-1 in C-USA. UAB is 13-19 overall and 4-2 in C-USA action.
Game one is televised on FOX Sports with first pitch set for 1 p.m. eastern. Fans can tune in all weekend long to 88.1 WMUL-FM and online at www.marshall.edu/wmul for coverage of all three contests.
The Herd is coming off of its off week in Conference USA and playing three consecutive non-conference doubleheaders at home. Marshall split with Ohio, Radford and Saint Francis.
Two of the Herd's players are on the verge of breaking career records. Junior pitcher Jordan Dixon (Edmond, Okla.) is already Marshall all-time wins leader with 68. Now, she stands only 16 strikeouts away from being the program's new leader. Dixon has 716 strikeouts with Marshall Athletics Hall of Famer Sara Gulla (1998-2001) in second place with 727 and future Marshall Hall of Famer Andi Williamson (2011-13) sitting at the top with 731.
Senior outfielder Kaelynn Greene (Eastvale, Calif.) is close to breaking two long-standing Herd records. Greene has 127 career stolen bases and needs just four more to break the 12-year old record of 130 set by Marshall Athletics Hall of Famer, and the Mid-American Conference's all-time stolen bases leader, Sierra Davenport (2001-04).
The next record in Greene's sight is the top of the mountain in career hits. Greene has 263, once again just four away from the top spot. Amanda Williams (2003-06) is in second with 265 and 4-time All-American Rachel Folden (2005-08) is in first with 266. With the recent pace that Greene has been on, she could set both records this weekend at UAB.
The Series...
Marshall and UAB have an incredible series history together despite the fact it has only been going on for about 10 years. The Herd and Blazers have met 32 times with UAB leading 18-14. These two teams first met February 16 & 18 in 2001 at the Georgia Tournament in Atlanta. The Herd and Blazers split the games, both going to the 8th inning, in what was only the second season of existence for UAB. The Herd would not play UAB again until 2006 when both schools joined together in Conference USA. Marshall swept the first ever series with the Blazers at the old Dot Hicks Field in 2006. In 2007, at George Ward Park in Birmingham, UAB took the series 2-1. In 2008, back in Huntington, the Herd won the series 2-1 but it started with some fireworks as game one went into the 10th inning and freshman Melanie Stoehr delivered a 2-run walk-off home run. 2008 would be the last time that Marshall won a series over the Blazers until 2015.
However, the two programs had some classic battles in the Conference Tournament. In 2012, hosted in Birmingham, another extra inning affair as once again it was decided in the 10th. UAB was the #1 seed at Marshall the #3 but the Herd was the designated home team. With the bases loaded senior, and Huntington native, Samantha Spurlock stepped to the plate. With two strikes and two outs Spurlock came through with a base hit up the middle scoring Kristina Braxton from third. It sent Marshall to its first of three consecutive C-USA Championship game appearances. In 2013 Marshall met UAB once again in the second round. The Herd won 1-0 with the only run coming from a 1st inning RBI double by Jazmine Valle. Marshall went on to win the Championship the next day over Houston. 2014 was the first time since joining C-USA that MU and UAB did not meet in the regular season. They did meet again in the Tournament with the Herd taking the victory 4-0. Marshall finally won the most recent series with the Blazers in 2015 at Dot Hicks Field. However, the Blazers got the best of the Herd a few days later in the first round of the tournament with a 3-1 victory.
Stealing the Next 60 Feet
Marshall is once again leading the country in stolen bases per game at 3.38. Missouri is second with 3.10 per game. The Herd has finished ranked in the top 10 in the country more times than any other program since Coach Stanton took over in 2000. The Herd is looking to finish in the top 10 for the 10th time since 2000 and to lead the country for the third time (2011 & 2015). Marshall is led by senior Kaelynn Greene with 37, who is also second in the country at 1.16 thefts per game. Sophomore Elicia D'Orazio is second on the team with 24. There have only been four games this season in which Marshall has not recorded at least one stolen base. The Herd swiped 19 in a doubleheader win over Toledo (3/15) with nine in game one and 10 in game two.
Grand Larceny at a Record Pace
Kaelynn Greene over the past 19 games has recorded 29 of her team leading 37 steals at a pace of 1.53 per game. She had a 6-game streak with at least 2 steals from 3/4 - 3/12 and then added a program record 5 in a game against Toledo. Greene is the first player in Herd history with three seasons of 30 or more stolen bases in her career. She is currently three swipes away from tying Sierra Davenport (2001-04) at the top of the charts at 130.
Elicia D'Orazio has also been swiping bases at an incredible pace with 21 thefts in the past 17 games. A rate of 1.24 per game. She has had six multi-steal games over the span and has put her career total to 48 in just her second season.
