Marshall University Athletics
Sunday, March 21
Chattanooga, TN
1:00 PM
Marshall University
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University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
4-14
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Marshall
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Chattanooga
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Photo by: Ray Soldano/Chattanooga Athletics
Great Pitching and Solid Hitting Leads Herd to Sweep at Chattanooga
3/21/2021 6:44:00 PM | Softball
Sackett drives in five while Joyce strikes out seven
Box Score (PDF)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Marshall softball team had another great outing on Sunday with a 9-1 win, to earn the series sweep over the Chattanooga Mocs. Freshman catcher Kat Sackett drove in five runs while redshirt sophomore pitcher Cailey Joyce struck out seven batters.
The Thundering Herd improves to 9-3 overall while the Mocs fall to 4-14.
"What a great way to end the weekend," Herd head coach Megan Smith Lyon said. "I felt like we had a strong weekend as a team, and today was an awesome finish. Cailey Joyce threw a magnificent game. She stepped up and Chattanooga has a pretty potent offense, we saw that yesterday and she was able to handle their hitters extremely well. She was poised, she was confident. I loved the way she mixed things up.
"Kat Sackett continues to be a monster in the box. Today she got her first career home run and it was awesome to witness her and her progress. She did some special things this weekend and we are excited about what she is going to do in the rest of her career."
Sackett had a career day going 3-of-4 at the plate with a single, double and her first career home run. She drove in at least one run with every hit. The Erie, Colo., native finished the weekend batting .500 (6-of-12), with four doubles, one home run, seven RBI and slugged 1.083. In just four games played this season, Sackett has six hits with five going for doubles, one home run and one single.
Joyce earned her second start of the season in the circle and went the distance for the win. She scattered out four hits and allowed one run. Her seven strikeouts are a season-high and was one away from her career-best of eight against Rhode Island, April 27, 2019, as a freshman at La Salle University.
Marshall started off hot right from the beginning. Freshman Paige Halliwill led off the game with a solo home run on the third pitch of game with a blast out to right-center. Her fourth of the season. Four pitches later, graduate Sierra Huerta made it back-to-back homers with a bomb out straight-away center. It was Huerta's third of the season and 21st of her career as she is now tied for 12th all-time in team history with Raquel Escareno (2013-16).
Chattanooga immediately made a pitching with the starter throwing just seven pitches to two batters. The Herd was unable to add any more runs in the first.
The Mocs responded with one run in the bottom of the first, to make things reminiscent of the back-and-forth battle in game one on Saturday. However, Joyce recorded three strikeouts in the inning with the last stranding a runner at second. For the rest of the game, Chattanooga did not have a single runner advance beyond second base.
The Herd added two more runs in the third as a theme developed throughout the day of scoring two runs in odd numbered innings. Huerta led off with a walk, then moved around to third after the next two batters grounded out. Junior Mya Stevenson then drew a walk before stealing second for her first stolen base of the season. With two runners on, junior Grace Chelemen walked to load the bases. Sackett delivered a single to center on the second pitch of her at-bat that drove home Huerta and Stevenson. For Sackett, it was her first hit of the season that was not a double, however it did produce two runs. Marshall led 4-1.
In the fifth inning, the Herd scored two more runs as Sackett and senior Madison Whitaker had back-to-back doubles that looked almost identical. Stevenson reached base first with a one-out double to right-center. Chelemen dropped down a sacrifice bunt that moved Stevenson to third. Sackett then hammered a double into the left-center gap that scored Stevenson. Whitaker attacked the first pitch of her at-bat and drove it to just about the same spot in left-center as Sackett's hit, scoring Sackett and giving Marshall a 6-1 lead.
Still leading 6-1 in the bottom of the sixth, senior Rachel Rousseau started a 9-3 double play after catching a liner in right, then firing to junior Taylor Robinson at first to double up the runner. The Sunday contest was the first action in a Marshall uniform for Robinson, a transfer from Gulf Coast State College in Florida.
The Herd carried the defensive momentum to score two more runs in the seventh. Stevenson reached base yet again with her second walk of the game. Two batters later, Sackett belted a pitch over the fence in right-center for her first career home run. The round-tripper was Marshall's 22nd home run of the season in just 12 games.
Joyce received some great defensive play to finish the game in the seventh. Chelemen caught a liner in deep left for the first out, then junior Camryn Michallas at third had a scoop-and-fire to Robinson at first for the second out. The Mocs managed to get one more base runner on with a single on two outs. The next batter hit a grounder up the middle that was stopped by a diving senior Armani Brown near second base. Brown flipped the ball to Huerta covering second for the force out to end the game.
The Herd finished the game with nine hits and drew seven more walks. Of the nine hits, there were four doubles and three home runs. During the three game series, the Marshall offense produced 26 runs on 34 hits and drew 27 free passes with 25 walks and two hit-by-pitches. The Herd's 10 walks in game two was the first time Marshall has drawn double-digit walks in a game since getting 13 against Kent State on March 6, 2011.
Stevenson had one hit, drew two walks and tied her career-high with three runs scored. Huerta scored two runs as well. Rousseau notched her 20th career double and drew a walk.
The Herd returns to action on Thursday, March 25, with a doubleheader at Akron. Marshall then comes back to Dot Hicks Field for a three-game series against Bellarmine on Saturday and Sunday, March 27-28.
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!
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Marshall softball team had another great outing on Sunday with a 9-1 win, to earn the series sweep over the Chattanooga Mocs. Freshman catcher Kat Sackett drove in five runs while redshirt sophomore pitcher Cailey Joyce struck out seven batters.
The Thundering Herd improves to 9-3 overall while the Mocs fall to 4-14.
"What a great way to end the weekend," Herd head coach Megan Smith Lyon said. "I felt like we had a strong weekend as a team, and today was an awesome finish. Cailey Joyce threw a magnificent game. She stepped up and Chattanooga has a pretty potent offense, we saw that yesterday and she was able to handle their hitters extremely well. She was poised, she was confident. I loved the way she mixed things up.
"Kat Sackett continues to be a monster in the box. Today she got her first career home run and it was awesome to witness her and her progress. She did some special things this weekend and we are excited about what she is going to do in the rest of her career."
Sackett had a career day going 3-of-4 at the plate with a single, double and her first career home run. She drove in at least one run with every hit. The Erie, Colo., native finished the weekend batting .500 (6-of-12), with four doubles, one home run, seven RBI and slugged 1.083. In just four games played this season, Sackett has six hits with five going for doubles, one home run and one single.
Joyce earned her second start of the season in the circle and went the distance for the win. She scattered out four hits and allowed one run. Her seven strikeouts are a season-high and was one away from her career-best of eight against Rhode Island, April 27, 2019, as a freshman at La Salle University.
Marshall started off hot right from the beginning. Freshman Paige Halliwill led off the game with a solo home run on the third pitch of game with a blast out to right-center. Her fourth of the season. Four pitches later, graduate Sierra Huerta made it back-to-back homers with a bomb out straight-away center. It was Huerta's third of the season and 21st of her career as she is now tied for 12th all-time in team history with Raquel Escareno (2013-16).
Chattanooga immediately made a pitching with the starter throwing just seven pitches to two batters. The Herd was unable to add any more runs in the first.
The Mocs responded with one run in the bottom of the first, to make things reminiscent of the back-and-forth battle in game one on Saturday. However, Joyce recorded three strikeouts in the inning with the last stranding a runner at second. For the rest of the game, Chattanooga did not have a single runner advance beyond second base.
The Herd added two more runs in the third as a theme developed throughout the day of scoring two runs in odd numbered innings. Huerta led off with a walk, then moved around to third after the next two batters grounded out. Junior Mya Stevenson then drew a walk before stealing second for her first stolen base of the season. With two runners on, junior Grace Chelemen walked to load the bases. Sackett delivered a single to center on the second pitch of her at-bat that drove home Huerta and Stevenson. For Sackett, it was her first hit of the season that was not a double, however it did produce two runs. Marshall led 4-1.
In the fifth inning, the Herd scored two more runs as Sackett and senior Madison Whitaker had back-to-back doubles that looked almost identical. Stevenson reached base first with a one-out double to right-center. Chelemen dropped down a sacrifice bunt that moved Stevenson to third. Sackett then hammered a double into the left-center gap that scored Stevenson. Whitaker attacked the first pitch of her at-bat and drove it to just about the same spot in left-center as Sackett's hit, scoring Sackett and giving Marshall a 6-1 lead.
Still leading 6-1 in the bottom of the sixth, senior Rachel Rousseau started a 9-3 double play after catching a liner in right, then firing to junior Taylor Robinson at first to double up the runner. The Sunday contest was the first action in a Marshall uniform for Robinson, a transfer from Gulf Coast State College in Florida.
The Herd carried the defensive momentum to score two more runs in the seventh. Stevenson reached base yet again with her second walk of the game. Two batters later, Sackett belted a pitch over the fence in right-center for her first career home run. The round-tripper was Marshall's 22nd home run of the season in just 12 games.
Joyce received some great defensive play to finish the game in the seventh. Chelemen caught a liner in deep left for the first out, then junior Camryn Michallas at third had a scoop-and-fire to Robinson at first for the second out. The Mocs managed to get one more base runner on with a single on two outs. The next batter hit a grounder up the middle that was stopped by a diving senior Armani Brown near second base. Brown flipped the ball to Huerta covering second for the force out to end the game.
The Herd finished the game with nine hits and drew seven more walks. Of the nine hits, there were four doubles and three home runs. During the three game series, the Marshall offense produced 26 runs on 34 hits and drew 27 free passes with 25 walks and two hit-by-pitches. The Herd's 10 walks in game two was the first time Marshall has drawn double-digit walks in a game since getting 13 against Kent State on March 6, 2011.
Stevenson had one hit, drew two walks and tied her career-high with three runs scored. Huerta scored two runs as well. Rousseau notched her 20th career double and drew a walk.
The Herd returns to action on Thursday, March 25, with a doubleheader at Akron. Marshall then comes back to Dot Hicks Field for a three-game series against Bellarmine on Saturday and Sunday, March 27-28.
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: Joyce, Cailey (1-0)
L: Brooke Sudduth (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Stevenson, Mya 1 ; Sackett, Kat 1 ; Whitaker, Madison 1 ; ROUSSEAU, Rachel 1
HR: Halliwill, Paige 1 ; Huerta, Sierra 1 ; Sackett, Kat 1
RBI: Halliwill, Paige 1 ; Huerta, Sierra 1 ; Sackett, Kat 5 ; Whitaker, Madison 1
SH: Chelemen, Grace 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Halliwill, Paige 1 ; Huerta, Sierra 2 ; Stevenson, Mya 3 ; Sackett, Kat 2
SB: Stevenson, Mya 1
Batting:
RBI: Hayleigh Weissenbach 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Emily Coltharp 1
SB: Emily Coltharp 1
HBP: Courtney Ball 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
5
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballC
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballMarshall Softball Class of 2025 Graduates
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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