Marshall University Athletics
Herd Softball to Welcome MTSU for Senior Weekend
5/4/2018 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The regular season is dwindling down for the Marshall softball team as the Herd takes on Middle Tennessee for senior weekend this Saturday and Sunday at Dot Hicks Field. Due to possibility of inclement weather, the Saturday doubleheader will now begin at 10 a.m.
The Thundering Herd will honor its six seniors before the start of the first game. Marshall's Class of 2018 consists of Elicia D'Orazio, Taylor McCord, Eloise Tribolet, Madi Marshall, Jordan Colliflower and student assistant Caitlin Gale who was also on the roster three years.
Seeds for the Conference USA Tournament, May 9-12 in Charlotte, are still up in the air making for an exciting regular season finale.
Fans can tune in to the games through CUSAtv.com and for the Marshall audio broadcast on 88.1 WMUL-FM, www.marshall.edu/wmul through one of the Listen Live links.
Last Time Out: Explosive Fifth Inning Helps and Harms Herd at Louisville
Marshall traveled to Louisville for the first time in ten years and trailed 6-1 going into the fifth inning. The bats awakened with a big spark as the Herd poured on nine runs as 13 batters came to the plate. Marshall took advantage of eight hits as well as a bases loaded walk and hit-by-pitch to take a four-run lead 10-6. Marshall went through seven batters before the Cardinals recorded the first out, a sacrifice bunt by Grayson Radcliffe. Eloise Tribolet lead off the inning with a single and came back up and delivered with an RBI single in her second plate appearance of the fifth. The Herd scored its final two runs with two outs on a two-RBI single by Elicia D'Orazio, her second hit of the inning. However, the Cardinals had an explosive fifth inning in the bottom of the frame with seven runs and took a three-run lead. Marshall struggled to get out of the inning as six of the seven runs were scored with two outs.
The Series
Marshall and Middle Tennessee first met all the way back on March 1, 1997, an 8-7 Herd win. Fourteen years went by before the teams played again on Feb. 25, 2011 down at Georgia. The Blue Raiders picked up its only win over the Herd in the all-time series, 3-2. The schools have met in a three-game series every year since 2014 when MTSU joined Conference USA. It has been a series sweep for Marshall all four times. In 2017 at Middle, the Herd scored four runs in the top of the seventh on the way to an 8-0 victory. Taylor McCord finished the day 3-for-3 with four runs scored and a walk. The four runs by McCord tied a Herd single game record. It was much tighter the rest of the way as Marshall pulled out a 3-1 win in game two and a 2-0 victory in the series finale. In game two, senior Shaelynn Braxton cranked out two home runs, her second multi-homer game of the season and third of her career. Senior pitcher Jordan Dixon reached her third major milestone pitching in her 1,000th inning of her career in game one.
Scouting the Blue Raiders
At 34-18, MTSU is looking at closing out its best season since 2004, when the Blue Raiders finished 34-23 and 11-9 in the Sun Belt. This year, MTSU is 11-9 in Conference USA action after sweeping UTEP this past weekend and putting the team in great position to go to the C-USA Tournament for the first time since entering the league in 2014. The Blue Raiders are hitting .302 as a team and have outscored the opposition by 58 (224-166). Sophomore Summer Burgess leads the squad hitting .376 with 64 hits. Senior Precious Birdsong is having another stellar season hitting .350, 50 hits, 46 runs scored and 25 stolen bases. Sophomore Lexi Cushing leads in the power numbers with 14 home runs, 11 doubles and 45 RBI while batting .351. In the circle, senior Cori Jennings has put herself in the conversation for conference pitcher of the year with a 2.07 ERA, 18-8 record, 14 complete games and 92 strikeouts in 159.0 innings pitched. Jennings has twice been named co-pitcher of the week. Freshman Amber Baldwin has the second most innings with 103.1, a 2.91 ERA and a 9-7 record.
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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