Marshall University Athletics
Game Time Changes for @HerdSB Hosting FAU
4/7/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Game Notes
Game One: | Live Video
Game Two: | Live Video
Game Three: | Live Video
Conference USA TV
Marshall Radio Broadcast
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Due to inclement weather from Friday, the game times for the Marshall softball team hosting the Florida Atlantic Owls have been changed. The Thundering Herd (29-5, 11-1 C-USA) and the Owls (25-12, 7-2 C-USA) will play a single game on Saturday, April 8 at 5 p.m. The two teams will play the doubleheader on Sunday, April 9 with first pitch scheduled for 10 a.m., from Dot Hicks Field.
This weekend will be Marshall's Strikeout for Cancer Day. The Herd players will be wearing special pink jerseys that will be sold in a silent auction with all proceeds going to the St. Mary's Pink Ribbon Fund.
I addition, the Herd will have headbands and the staff will wear shirts with the words "Faith.Fight.Frost" in support of former Marshall softball great, and current University of Indianapolis head coach Melissa Frost, who in November was diagnosed with breast cancer. A total of 43 schools from 16 states in 14 different conferences will all be wearing the slogan "Faith.Fight.Frost".
Frost starred for the Herd from 1994-97 and helped lead Marshall to the 1995 Southern Conference Tournament Championship in just the second year of the program. She continued her career playing with the Akron Racers in the early days of the National Pro Fastpitch League. Frost has been leading the U. of Indy Greyhounds for 13 seasons and has an amazing record of 507-198-1 in her career and her squad is the 14th ranked team in Division II.
Fans can check out more about Melissa Frost and the Greyhounds, as well as the #FaithFightFrost campaign on the U. of Indy website.
The Win Streak. A Program Best
Marshall rolled through the month of March and its first game in April for a program-best 17-game winning streak. The streak ended in game two at Southern Miss, but it surpassed the 14-game streak from March 13-April 6, 2013. In 2013, Marshall swept three C-USA series over Southern Miss, UCF and Memphis. During the 2017 streak, the Herd has swept its way through the Eagle Classic at Georgia Southern, three Conference USA series with UTSA, Charlotte and WKU and a pair of mid-week contests with UNC Greensboro and Morehead State. 10 of the 17 wins came on the road. During the win streak, Marshall has outscored its opponents 132-40 and out hit the opposition 167-89. The Herd scored less than five runs in a game just once, scored 10 or more runs four times and finished with 10 or more hits eight times while hitting .363 as a team. Marshall swiped 65 bases during the streak as well.
A Dominant Week...And 1,000
Senior pitcher Jordan Dixon was named Conference USA Pitcher of the Week, April 3, after a dominating week. Dixon pitched three shutouts, including one no-hitter and eclipsed 1,000 career strikeouts. The Edmond, Okla., native began the week with her second career no-hitter at home against Morehead State. She continued with shutout wins in games one and three at Southern Miss. In the first inning of the series finale against the Golden Eagles, Dixon struck out the side to become the first pitcher in Herd history to record 1,000 strikeouts. Dixon was the first pitcher in Herd history to record three seasons of 200 or more strikeouts and is well on her way to a fourth with 189. She has continued her winning ways taking down Wright State, 4-2, in game one of a doubleheader and achieving her 97th career win. Dixon was won her last 14 consecutive starts as she continues to dominate in her senior season.
Grand Larceny on the Bases
Marshall softball has continued its dominance in base running going for the next 60 feet. The Herd has 120 steals in just 34 games and is currently leading the country with 3.53 per game. Marshall has ripped off at least one base in every game but four this season. At the Eagle Classic, Marshall stole 34 bases in five games, including the team and Conference USA record 16 versus Delaware State. Elicia D'Orazio and Morgan Zerkle are in a little battle at the top for the Herd. D'Orazio has 40 and Zerkle is just ten behind with 30. Both players are ranked in the top ten in the nation. D'Orazio is first with 1.18 per game and Zerkle ranks seventh with .97 per contest. Against Wright State, D'Orazio became the sixth player in Herd history with 100 or more career stolen bases. She is now tied with Jessica Hughes (2008-12) for fifth all-time with 103. Marshall reached 100 steals in the fewest games in program history in just 27 games. The old record of 30 was set just this past season in 2016.
Run Production
The Herd has been finding its timely hitting with players on base in 2017. 175 of the teams 204 runs have been driven in as seven different players have 10 or more RBIs and five players have driven in 20 or more. Just through the top four batters in the everyday lineup, Marshall has 112 RBIs. In the leadoff, Elicia D'Orazio has 20. Batting second, Morgan Zerkle has a career-high 30. Batting third, Taylor McCord has produced a career-best 40. And finally, batting fourth, Shaelynn Braxton has 22 RBIs and is second all-time at Marshall with 162. In addition, Briana Daiss has 22, Abigail Estrada has 13 and Ali Burdette has chipped in 11 RBIs.
Scouting The Owls
FAU comes into the contest 25-12 and 7-2 in Conference USA. The Owls began the season 1-2 before rattling off 10-straight wins, all while getting to stay at the friendly confines of the FAU Softball Stadium in Boca Raton through the entire month of February. In Conference USA action, FAU swept its first series over WKU and then have taken two-of-three from Charlotte and FIU. The Owls gave FIU its first two losses in conference play as the Panthers were previously 6-0 before this past weekend. FAU lost ace pitcher Kylee Hanson, who last pitched against Kentucky (Feb. 25) in a 6-2 loss. Hanson has not been back in the circle yet for FAU, but even without the ace, the staff ERA is 1.88. Senior pitcher Amanda Wilson has stepped up with 100.2 innings pitched, a record of 9-6 and a 2.02 ERA. Junior Tatum Buckley is also getting a lot of experience in the circle with 69.1 innings so far this season with 1.92 ERA, 46 strikeouts and a record of 6-3. Offensively, junior Emily Lochten and sophomore Madisyn Palmer have been electric for FAU. Lochten is batting .408, 39 runs scored, 13 home runs, seven doubles and 28 stolen bases. Palmer is hitting .330 with 23 runs scored and 27 stolen bases.
The Series
Marshall and Florida Atlantic have met only 10 times with the first meeting back in Feb. 9-10, 2013 at the USF-DeMarini Tournament in Tampa. The Herd took both games, 3-1 and 2-1. Freshman Shaelynn Braxton scored the third run of game one in the sixth after the Owls put up one in the fifth to cut the lead to one, 2-1. In game two, the Herd won in the bottom of the eighth as senior Jazmine Valle scored on a sac fly by freshman Alyssa Woodrum. In 2014, both teams were now members of Conference USA and the Herd traveled down to Boca Raton for the first time. Marshall and FAU played a three-game series that the Herd won the first game 8-5, but then FAU won the last two. With the win in game one, it was the third win of Jordan Dixon's career. The two squads faced each other again in Huntington. The Owls won the first game, 3-0, as Kylee Hanson allowed just four hits. In game two, Marshall held a 5-2 lead before FAU scored three runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game. However, in the bottom of the seventh, sophomore Morgan Zerkle led off with an infield single and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from junior Kaelynn Greene. With Zerkle's speed in scoring position, freshman Elicia D'Orazio singled to left field that scored Zerkle and gave Marshall the walk-off win. Game three was canceled due to heavy rain the next day. The last time Marshall and FAU faced off was April 16-17, 2016 in Boca Raton. FAU swept the series and took the all-time series lead 6-4.
