Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Middle Tennessee State
@HerdSB Completes the Series Sweep of MTSU, 9-2
4/24/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Box Score (PDF)
Coach Stanton Postgame Video
HUNTINGTON, W.Va-The Marshall softball team (25-23, 9-9 C-USA) exploded for 16 hits in a 9-2 win over Middle Tennessee (23-24, 6-12 C-USA) Sunday afternoon at Dot Hicks Field.
"We really needed that as a group and I am really proud of our team," Herd Coach Shonda Stanton said. "It was a beautiful day with a great crowd and once again Jordan (Dixon) came out and was dominant in the circle.
"Offensively we had 16 hits and we left a few too many runners on as far as being able to get the clutch hit, but so many players contributed and had three kids with three hits today. We did a lot of things well and just really pleased with this team."
The win gave the Herd its first series sweep since the first conference series of the season against UTEP, March 12-13. Junior Jordan Dixon (Edmond, Okla.) got the start and made quick work of the Blue Raiders in the first inning, retiring the side with ten pitches.
The first two Herd batters reached base as junior Morgan Zerkle (Milton, W.Va.) laced a single down the right field line and senior Kaelynn Greene (Eastvale, Calif.) dropped a single into left field. The Herd was unable to push across a run in the inning, stranding runners at second and third.
Dixon struck out a pair of batters in the second inning, needing just 14 pitches to retire the Blue Raiders in order.
The Herd pushed three runs across the plate in the second inning. Freshman Hayden Ellis (Ashville, Ohio) started the hitting with a one-out double off the right field wall. Fellow freshman Samantha Loose (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) followed with a single, advancing Ellis to third. Sophomore Elicia D'Orazio (Clermont, Fla.) drove in Ellis with a single to left field and Zerkle brought home freshman Abigail Estrada (Torrance, Calif.), who pinch ran for Loose, with a single to center.
Sophomore Jordan Colliflower (Huntington, W.Va.) was inserted at first to run for Zerkle. On the very next pitch, D'Orazio and Colliflower pulled off a successful double steal to get into scoring position. After Greene walked to load the bases, senior Katalin Lucas (Agua Dulce, Calif.) drove in D'Orazio with a sacrifice fly.
Dixon needed just seven pitches to get out of the third inning, striking out her fourth batter of the game in the process.
The Herd scored another run in the third, as freshman Briana Daiss (Clermont, Fla.) hit her team-leading ninth home run of the season to center field with one out. Marshall led 4-0. The solo shot tied Daiss with Rachel Folden (2005-08) for second most home runs by a freshman in program history. Jazmine Valle (2010-13) holds the record with 10 back in 2010.
Dixon gave up her first hit of the day on a leadoff single to left field in the fourth inning. She recovered by getting a fielder's choice and striking out two batters in the inning, stranding the runner at first base.
The Blue Raiders made a pitching change to begin the bottom of the fourth and then made another as both D'Orazio and Zerkle were walked to lead off the inning. Greene came up next and dropped down a bunt single to load the bases once again for Lucas. This time the senior third baseman grounded out to short but still drove in her second run of the game as D'Orazio scored from third.
Two batters later, with two away, senior Raquel Escareno sent a line drive up the middle to drive home both Zerkle and Greene and give the Herd a 7-0 advantage.
MTSU scored its first runs of the weekend in the top of the fifth scoring two runs off of three base hits and taking advantage of one Herd error. Daiss recorded the final out, unassisted, to strand two Blue Raiders on base.
Marshall fired back in the bottom of the fifth scoring one more run. Sophomore Madi Marshall (St. Albans, W.Va.) led off with a single to center. Zerkle came up next and ripped a triple down the right field line that brought Marshall all the way around from first. The Herd pushed the lead out to six, 8-2.
Dixon and the Marshall defense held tight in the sixth sending the MTSU batters back to the dugout in order in just seven pitches. Dixon recorded her eighth and final strikeout of the game to end the inning. The last one gave her 30 strikeouts for the series.
The Herd offense did not stop there scoring one more in the sixth to push the lead to seven, 9-2. Daiss sent a flair out to shallow left field and then advanced to second on an errant throw from the catcher. Two batters later, Marshall recorded her second hit of the day that put Daiss 60 feet away from home. D'Orazio followed through with an infield single that scored Daiss for the final run of the game.
The Blue Raiders put two runners on in the seventh but could not push any more runs across the plate as D'Orazio tossed out the final batter at first to preserve the 9-2 victory. Dixon earned all three wins over the weekend to push her season total to 20. The junior is the first pitcher in Herd history to have three seasons of 20 wins or more.
It was the third straight series that Marshall has swept Middle Tennessee State since the Blue Raiders joined Conference USA in 2014.
Junior Morgan Zerkle was named the Dot Hicks Significance Sticker Award winner for her performance going 3-for-4 with a triple, a walk, scoring one run and driving in two.
"Zerkle is doing a great job," Coach Stanton said of her junior. "She is doing a great job of staying within herself and not trying to over-do it or push it. I almost second guessed bringing her to third on the triple but she looks like she is running well. It is nice to see that caliber of an athlete who goes hard all the time understand what it means to play at about 80 percent and still be that good."
Next up for the Herd will be a visit from the FIU Panthers April 30-May 1. It will be senior weekend as the Conference USA matchup will be the final homestand of the 2016 season. Marshall will end the regular season the following weekend, May 7-8, at WKU.
