Marshall University Athletics
Saturday, May 18
Lynchburg, Va.
10:00 AM
Marshall University
42-21
4
vs
2
Kent State University
28-26
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Kent State
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
2
7
3
Marshall University
3
0
1
0
0
0
X
4
5
0
Stevenson hit two home runs during the win over Kent State
Photo by: Adam Gue
2019 Season for Softball Comes to an End at the NISC Regional Championship
5/18/2019 6:49:00 PM | Softball
Herd ties single-season wins record and Stevenson breaks single-season home run mark
Kent State Box Score (PDF)
Liberty Box Score (PDF)
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Marshall softball team battled its way back into another championship game with a 4-2 win over Kent State, but then fell to the Liberty Flames, 7-0, Saturday in the National Invitational Softball Championship. Senior Abigail Tolbert, junior Sierra Huerta and sophomore Aly Harrell were named to the all-tournament team.
The win over the Golden Flashes gave the Thundering Herd its 42nd win of the season, tied for the most in program history. The season comes to a close with Marshall at 42-22 overall.
"It's a tough way to end the season, but it absolutely doesn't take away how proud I am of our players and our team," Herd head coach Megan Smith said. "I am proud of the way they played and performed all season. We definitely had a strong finish.
"With the strong tradition here at Marshall it's awesome to say that we had a part in breaking some records. This team has done some special things and I am excited to see how we build on this next year."
Game One: Marshall 4, Kent State 2
Freshman Mya Stevenson provided all of the run support for Tolbert and the Marshall defense as the Herd held off elimination one more time against Kent State. Stevenson belted two more home runs in the victory bringing her season total to 20, breaking the Herd single-season record of 18 homers set by Rachel Folden (2005-08) in 2006
Harrell led off the bottom of the first inning with a double to left-center. Huerta reached base on an infield error to put two on base for Stevenson. The freshman slugger attacked the first pitch she saw and sent a laser over the fence in center for her record-breaking 19th jack of the season. Marshall led 3-0.
Stevenson added one more run in the third with a solo homer, again on the first pitch of the at-bat. With her 20th home run of the year, Stevenson recorded her 58th RBI of the year, just two away from another record set by Folden (60) in 2005.
Tolbert pitched the complete game for the 28th time of the season and earned her 28th win. She scattered seven hits, allowed two runs and struck out three. The Marshall defense continued to provide great plays behind Tolbert as well.
Marshall ended the season for Kent State and advanced to the NISC Regional Championship.
Game Two: Liberty 7, Marshall 0
The Liberty Flames came out swinging from the start in taking the NISC Regional Championship game, and advance to Championship Week in Fort Collins, Colo.
Marshall continued to fight throughout the game despite being down from start to finish. Junior pitcher Kailee Williamson received the start and pitched into the fifth inning before being relieved by senior Ali Burdette. Burdette finished the last 2.2 innings. The Herd defense kept making great plays to get the team out of further jams and held off the Flames when Liberty had a chance to try and go up by eight to put the run-rule in effect.
On offense, Marshall managed just three hits as Huerta, senior Hayden Ellis and sophomore Armani Brown finished with one hit each. Harrell was walked once to bring her record-breaking season total to 68.
The Herd finished the year breaking numerous team and individual records under first-year head coach Megan Smith. A team that was predicted to finish eighth in the preseason Conference USA polls went into the conference tournament as the four-seed and earned its way into the C-USA Championship game. Following the heart-breaking loss to Louisiana Tech, the Herd excepted the invitation to the NISC and again earned its way into another championship contest at the Lynchburg Regional.
Marshall graduates seven seniors with Tolbert, Samantha Loose, Burdette, Hannah Giammarino, Ellis, Abigail Estrada and Briana Daiss. The 2019 class was a part of 139 wins over four years including twice finishing with the most in team history (42) in 2017 and 2019.
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!
Liberty Box Score (PDF)
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Marshall softball team battled its way back into another championship game with a 4-2 win over Kent State, but then fell to the Liberty Flames, 7-0, Saturday in the National Invitational Softball Championship. Senior Abigail Tolbert, junior Sierra Huerta and sophomore Aly Harrell were named to the all-tournament team.
The win over the Golden Flashes gave the Thundering Herd its 42nd win of the season, tied for the most in program history. The season comes to a close with Marshall at 42-22 overall.
"It's a tough way to end the season, but it absolutely doesn't take away how proud I am of our players and our team," Herd head coach Megan Smith said. "I am proud of the way they played and performed all season. We definitely had a strong finish.
"With the strong tradition here at Marshall it's awesome to say that we had a part in breaking some records. This team has done some special things and I am excited to see how we build on this next year."
Game One: Marshall 4, Kent State 2
Freshman Mya Stevenson provided all of the run support for Tolbert and the Marshall defense as the Herd held off elimination one more time against Kent State. Stevenson belted two more home runs in the victory bringing her season total to 20, breaking the Herd single-season record of 18 homers set by Rachel Folden (2005-08) in 2006
Harrell led off the bottom of the first inning with a double to left-center. Huerta reached base on an infield error to put two on base for Stevenson. The freshman slugger attacked the first pitch she saw and sent a laser over the fence in center for her record-breaking 19th jack of the season. Marshall led 3-0.
Stevenson added one more run in the third with a solo homer, again on the first pitch of the at-bat. With her 20th home run of the year, Stevenson recorded her 58th RBI of the year, just two away from another record set by Folden (60) in 2005.
Tolbert pitched the complete game for the 28th time of the season and earned her 28th win. She scattered seven hits, allowed two runs and struck out three. The Marshall defense continued to provide great plays behind Tolbert as well.
Marshall ended the season for Kent State and advanced to the NISC Regional Championship.
Game Two: Liberty 7, Marshall 0
The Liberty Flames came out swinging from the start in taking the NISC Regional Championship game, and advance to Championship Week in Fort Collins, Colo.
Marshall continued to fight throughout the game despite being down from start to finish. Junior pitcher Kailee Williamson received the start and pitched into the fifth inning before being relieved by senior Ali Burdette. Burdette finished the last 2.2 innings. The Herd defense kept making great plays to get the team out of further jams and held off the Flames when Liberty had a chance to try and go up by eight to put the run-rule in effect.
On offense, Marshall managed just three hits as Huerta, senior Hayden Ellis and sophomore Armani Brown finished with one hit each. Harrell was walked once to bring her record-breaking season total to 68.
The Herd finished the year breaking numerous team and individual records under first-year head coach Megan Smith. A team that was predicted to finish eighth in the preseason Conference USA polls went into the conference tournament as the four-seed and earned its way into the C-USA Championship game. Following the heart-breaking loss to Louisiana Tech, the Herd excepted the invitation to the NISC and again earned its way into another championship contest at the Lynchburg Regional.
Marshall graduates seven seniors with Tolbert, Samantha Loose, Burdette, Hannah Giammarino, Ellis, Abigail Estrada and Briana Daiss. The 2019 class was a part of 139 wins over four years including twice finishing with the most in team history (42) in 2017 and 2019.
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!
---HerdZone.com---
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Tolbert, Abigail (28-17)
L: HUCK, Madi (5-12)
Batting:
HR: BRANCIFORT, Hunter 1
RBI: CADER, Jen 1 ; BRANCIFORT, Hunter 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BRANCIFORT, Hunter 1 ; VODAN, Vanessa 1
Batting:
2B: Harrell, Aly 1 ; Rousseau, Rachel 1
HR: Stevenson, Mya 2
RBI: Stevenson, Mya 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Pennington, Rachel 1 ; Huerta, Sierra 1 ; Stevenson, Mya 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
4
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
RHP/UTL
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballP
/ Softball
RHP/UTL
/ Softball
RHP
/ SoftballMarshall Softball Class of 2025 Graduates
Friday, May 02
Marshall Softball: Kaleea Washington & Brooklyn Ulrich (Post-Radford)
Tuesday, April 22
Marshall Softball: HC Morgan Zerkle, Haleigh Adkins, Paige Maynard (Post-Coastal)
Friday, April 18
Hype and Harmony: the Team Personality Fuels Success #softball
Thursday, April 17