Marshall University Athletics
Herd Softball Welcomes Red Flash for Midweek Doubleheader
4/2/2018 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall softball team takes on the Saint Francis Red Flash at Dot Hicks Field on Tuesday for a doubleheader at Dot Hicks Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Marshall is 15-18-1 overall and Saint Francis is 18-15.
Both games will be broadcast on ESPN3 as well as 88.1 WMUL-FM and online at www.marshall.edu/wmul.
Last Time Out: Back Home for FIU Series
Marshall started off well against the FIU Panthers taking a 5-0 lead through the first four innings of game one. FIU then began to claw its way back into the ball game and took a 9-8 lead in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh Grayson Radcliffe led off with a walk and then Blakely Burch got hit by a pitch. A wild pitch moved both to scoring position and then Madi Marshall drove in Radcliffe to tie the game with a ground out to second. Katie Adams was then walked and Elicia D'Orazio was intentionally walked to load the bases. Jordan Colliflower, who already had two hits and two runs scored, stepped up and delivered a high-hopper in the infield that scored Burch for the game-winner.
In game two, the Herd took a 2-0 lead into the sixth before the Panthers exploded for nine runs and eventually won 10-2. Game three was a back-and-forth battle and was tied at 5-5 going into the sixth. Aly Harrell and Briana Daiss had both hit home runs early in the game, for Daiss it was her second of the weekend. FIU took control again in the late innings and took the series with a 9-5 victory.
Colliflower continued her hitting streak up to 16 games, tied with Joscelyn Bitner (2006-09) and Kaelynn Greene (2013-16) for the fourth longest in program history. D'Orazio increased her hitting streak to eight games and her on-base streak to 11 games. Taylor McCord threw out a Panther would-be base-stealer in game one to tie Karri Britt (2000-03) for the most runners caught stealing in a career with her 55th.
The Series: five meetings, Marshall leads 4-1
Marshall and Saint Francis first met during the Herd's first season on March 25, 1994. Marshall won 9-4. Two years later, the Herd won again, 8-1. Eight years went by before the two teams met again on March 20, 2004 in Blacksburg, Va. Marshall came back from a 5-1 deficit in the fourth to win 8-7. Twelve years went by before the Herd and the Red Flash stepped on the field together again, this time for a doubleheader at Dot Hicks Field on March 29, 2016. Marshall took game one, 9-2. Jordan Dixon struck out eight while Kaelynn Greene, Elicia D'Orazio, Briana Daiss and Taylor McCord combined for 10 of the Herd's 12 hits. Greene had three hits, scored twice and stole four bases. D'Orazio stole three. Raquel Escareno hit her fifth homer of the season in the win. The Red Flash fought back to take game two, 4-0. The Herd managed just five hits in the loss. Current SFU seniors Jordan Seneca and Alexis Bower combined for four hits in the win.
SCOUTING THE RED FLASH
SFU began conference play (Northeast Conference) with a bang as the Red Flash hit seven home runs by seven different players in a doubleheader sweep of Mount St. Mary's. Saint Francis won the NEC Championship in 2017 and is looking to repeat. The team has jacked 36 homers for the year, already third most in program history. Eight different players have hit at least one home run this year and seven players have hit two or more. Senior Madison Cabell leads the squad with nine home runs and is second in team history with 31. Fellow senior Jordan Seneca is the program's all-time leader with 45, and has three this year. Junior Sierra McKee leads the Red Flash with a .301 average and has hit four home runs (15 career). A pair of sophomore arms in Abby Trathan (151.1 IP) and Adrian Smith (67.2) have been handling everything in the circle. Trathan has a 2.73 ERA and is 13-10 with 116 strikeouts. Smith has a 3.00 ERA, a 5-5 record and 46 strikeouts.
Marshall will hit the road down to San Antonio to take on the UTSA Roadrunners in a three-game Conference USA series on Saturday and Sunday, April 7-8. The Saturday doubleheader begins at 2 p.m. eastern.
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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