Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Florida Atlantic
Herd Softball Falls in Extras at Florida Atlantic
3/25/2018 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Box Score (PDF)
BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Marshall softball team fought hard Sunday in the series finale, but ultimately fell to Florida Atlantic 4-3 in the ninth inning from FAU Softball Stadium.
The Thundering Herd is now 14-16-1 and 5-3-1 in Conference USA. Florida Atlantic is 19-16 and 7-2 in conference play.
"It was a very well fought game," Herd head coach Jen Steele said. "We worked hard to battle back after falling behind early, but it came down to who could execute more and unfortunately we didn't come out on the right side today.
"It's tough to win on the road, but we had a chance to pull ahead in the standings with a win today. We'll get back home, recover, and get to work on preparing for FIU."
The Owls got on the board first with two runs in the third. Junior Abigail Tolbert got the start in the circle and pitched the first three innings. Sophomore Kailee Williamson entered the game in the fourth and held the Owls scoreless through the rest of regulation.
The Herd bats got going in the sixth. Senior Taylor McCord led off the inning with a walk. Two batters later, junior Briana Daiss was hit by a pitch and then fellow junior Abigail Estrada came in to run at first. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position. Freshman Grayson Radcliffe then lined a shot to the right field corner and scored both runners. Marshall tied the game at two.
Williamson and the Marshall defense continued to keep the Herd in the game through the sixth and seventh. In the bottom of the seventh, with a runner on and two outs, Williamson struck out Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year selection Emily Lochten to move the game into extra innings.
In the top of the eighth, Marshall took the lead as sophomore Blakely Burch recorded her third hit of the game to right that drove in junior Samantha Loose. The Herd took a 3-2 lead.
FAU matched Marshall with a run in the eighth to tie the game again. The Owls finally came through in the bottom of the ninth to take the win and the series.
Burch was 3-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Senior Jordan Colliflower got on board with a hit in the top of the seventh to continue her hitting streak to 13 games. Daiss recorded her 100th career hit in the fourth. McCord was walked for the 65th time in her career and is now tied with Melissa Frost (1994-97) for 10th all-time in program history. The Herd finished the weekend with eight stolen bases against a team that had allowed only six steals all season coming into the series.
For all of the latest information on the Marshall Softball team, follow the Herd on Twitter @HerdSB, Facebook at Marshall University Softball and on www.herdzone.com.
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