Softball Splits on Day Two at USD Tournament

SAN DIEGO – The Marshall softball team fought for an extra inning victory in its first game, and struggled defensively in the second, to split the day at the USD Tournament on Saturday.

The Thundering Herd defeated Cal Poly 6-5 in nine innings in the first game, and then fell to UC-Riverside 5-4 in the nightcap.

Game One: Marshall 6, Cal Poly 5 – 9 innings
Marshall began the game in control, jumping out to a 4-0 lead through the fourth inning, but needed an extended effort to grab the win over the Mustangs in the ninth inning.

The Herd recorded nine hits but had five errors that helped allow Cal Poly to battle back. Senior pitcher Abigail Tolbert started the game in the circle and pitched the first 5.1 innings. Junior Kailee Williamson came on in relief in the sixth and pitched the final two outs. Senior Ali Burdette entered the circle to start the seventh and went the final three innings and earned the win, her first of the season.

Marshall got on the board first in the second inning as sophomore Rachel Rousseau led off with a single to right. Three batters later, senior Hayden Ellis flew out to deep right field that allowed Rousseau to score from third on the sacrifice fly.

The Herd scored three more runs in the top of the fourth inning to take the 4-0 lead. Junior Blakely Burch led getting hit by a pitch for the second time. Junior Sierra Huerta then a hit single to center that Burch hustled around to third and Huerta took second on the throw. Ellis drew a walk to load the bases and senior Briana Daiss came in to pinch hit. Daiss drilled a base hit into center that scored Burch. Next, sophomore Armani Brown hit a sac fly that brought home Huerta and then sophomore Aly Harrell plated Ellis with a single for the final run of the inning.

The Marshall defense committed two errors in the bottom of the fifth but held off the Mustangs for the moment as Rousseau caught the third out in the left, stranding two runners on base.

Cal Poly fought back in the sixth scoring three runs to cut the Herd lead down to one, taking advantage of another Marshall error. Harrell got the Herd out of the inning with an unassisted double play at first base.

Another error in the seventh helped the inning continue. Lily Amos for the Mustangs ripped a shot into center that scored the game tying run, however senior Hannah Giammarino fired a throw to Ellis at the plate to stop the game-winning run from scoring and pushed the game into the eighth.

With the international tie-breaker rule in effect, Burch began the inning at second base and scored on a sac fly by Ellis to put the score at 5-4.

The Mustangs scored again in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game back at 5-5 and had an opportunity for the win. Giammarino came up big for Marshall again with another throw to the plate for the second out of the inning. Burdette recorded a strikeout for the final out, stranding two runners on base.

Giammarino began the top of the ninth as the runner at second and advanced to third on an infield single from freshman Chloe Lee. Harrell drew her third walk of the game to load the bases. With two outs, the first error of the game for Cal Poly allowed Giammarino to score and give Marshall the lead, 6-5.

Cal Poly had another opportunity in the bottom of the ninth as Noa Yakir was placed at second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch with two outs. Finally, Burdette got Amos to pop out to Harrell by first base to end the game.

Harrell's three walks is tied for the second most in a single game in program history and is a career-high.

Game Two: UC-Riverside 5, Marshall 4
Defensive struggles continued for the Herd in the second game, committing six errors and all five runs scored by the Highlanders were unearned.

Riverside scored two runs in the first and then one more in the fourth before Marshall got on the board with one run in the bottom of the fourth. Freshman Rachel Pennington scored her first career run to cut the deficit to two, 3-1.

The Highlanders added two more runs in the sixth to increase the lead to 5-1. The Herd battled in the bottom of the sixth adding three more runs to make it a one run game. Brown, Huerta and Giammarino all crossed the plate.

Marshall held on defensively in the seventh but could not generate the needed offense in the bottom of the inning.

Harrell was walked three times for the second-straight game. Her season on-base percentage is .778 through the first four games.

Marshall finishes the USD Tournament on Sunday against the Portland State Vikings. First pitch is scheduled for 9 a.m. local time and 12 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.

To follow all Thundering Herd sports and get live stats, schedules, and free live audio, download the Marshall Athletics App for iOS or Android!

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Team Stats

Armani Brown

Rachel Rousseau

Chloe Lee

Aly Harrell

Players Mentioned

Armani Brown

Blakely Burch

Ali Burdette

Briana Daiss

Hayden Ellis

Hannah Giammarino

Aly Harrell

Sierra Huerta

Chloe Lee

Rachel Pennington

Rachel Rousseau

Abigail Tolbert

Kailee Williamson

Players Mentioned

Armani Brown

Blakely Burch

Ali Burdette

Briana Daiss

Hayden Ellis

Hannah Giammarino

Aly Harrell

Sierra Huerta

Chloe Lee

Rachel Pennington

Rachel Rousseau

Abigail Tolbert

Kailee Williamson

Marshall University Athletics