Marshall University Athletics
Sunday, April 18
Huntington, W.Va.
11:30 AM
Marshall University
15-8, 4-4
6
vs
5
Florida Atlantic University
8-27, 4-8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Florida Atlantic
0
0
1
0
0
0
4
5
8
1
Marshall
0
0
3
0
2
1
X
6
5
1
Photo by: Adam Gue
Softball Takes Series Over Owls
4/18/2021 6:24:00 PM | Softball
Harrell and Pye with home runs
Box Score (PDF)
Head Coach Megan Smith Lyon Postgame Comments
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Marshall softball team won the series finale, 6-5, over the Florida Atlantic Owls on Sunday at Dot Hicks Field. Seniors Aly Harrell and Saige Pye both hit home runs for the Herd.
The Thundering Herd improved to 15-8 overall and 4-4 in Conference USA. The Owls drop to 9-26 overall and 4-8 in conference play.
"We are excited about getting a series win," Herd head coach Megan Smith Lyon said. "They were some tough, hard-fought games. What I think I am most impressed with from our group is how hard they fought from that first game to the last out of this last game. I cannot say enough about the heart they had this weekend. They all worked well together as a team.
"They were really doing it for the seniors, the last weekend that they get playing at the Dot in the Herd jersey. I hope we made the fans proud this weekend. I know that we were really excited to come out with those three wins and do it as a team."
The game began as a pitcher's duel between redshirt sophomore Cailey Joyce for Marshall and Abigail Morgan for Florida Atlantic with just three runners reaching base, all from Marshall, in the first two innings. The Owls scored first with one run in the top of the third, however Marshall stormed right back.
In the bottom of the third inning, junior Grace Chelemen and Harrell were on base when Pye smacked a blast out to right field. The three-run homer gave Marshall the lead, 3-1. The Owls made a pitching change to Lynn Gardner who had already thrown a bulk of the innings over the series.
The Herd added two more runs with another big blast as Harrell crushed her eighth home run of the season out to right-center. This time no damage was done to a vehicle, and it was the 38th of her career, tying Harrell back up with teammate Mya Stevenson for second all-time in program history. Marshall now led 5-1.
The Herd scored one final run in the bottom of the sixth when graduate Sierra Huerta hit a sacrifice fly to left-center that scored freshman Kat Sackett from third.
In the top of the seventh, FAU fought back scoring one run to close the gap to four, 6-2. The Herd then made a pitching change and brought in senior Laney Jones. The Owls then hit a three-run home run to make it a one-run contest, 6-5. Jones rebounded immediately retiring the next two batters to end the game.
Joyce earned the win, her third of the season after pitching 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits, four runs and striking out four. Jones earned the save, her second of the season and sixth of her career. Jones is now fifth all-time in team history with those six saves.
Marshall had just five hits in the game, making each one count, and all coming from the two through six spots in the lineup. Chelemen, Harrell, Pye, Stevenson and freshman Paige Halliwill all with one hit each. Pye drove in three runs for the third-straight contest. Huerta reached base twice in the game with one walk and one hit-by-pitch. Huerta leads the Herd with 17 walks and seven hit-by-pitches. The shortstop now has been plunked 43 times in her career, 10 behind Marshall's all-time leader in Marcena Bertoldo (2007-10). Senior Katie Adams was also hit by a pitch.
Marshall gets back out on the road in Conference USA play, April 23-25, at FIU.
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!
Head Coach Megan Smith Lyon Postgame Comments
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Marshall softball team won the series finale, 6-5, over the Florida Atlantic Owls on Sunday at Dot Hicks Field. Seniors Aly Harrell and Saige Pye both hit home runs for the Herd.
The Thundering Herd improved to 15-8 overall and 4-4 in Conference USA. The Owls drop to 9-26 overall and 4-8 in conference play.
"We are excited about getting a series win," Herd head coach Megan Smith Lyon said. "They were some tough, hard-fought games. What I think I am most impressed with from our group is how hard they fought from that first game to the last out of this last game. I cannot say enough about the heart they had this weekend. They all worked well together as a team.
"They were really doing it for the seniors, the last weekend that they get playing at the Dot in the Herd jersey. I hope we made the fans proud this weekend. I know that we were really excited to come out with those three wins and do it as a team."
The game began as a pitcher's duel between redshirt sophomore Cailey Joyce for Marshall and Abigail Morgan for Florida Atlantic with just three runners reaching base, all from Marshall, in the first two innings. The Owls scored first with one run in the top of the third, however Marshall stormed right back.
In the bottom of the third inning, junior Grace Chelemen and Harrell were on base when Pye smacked a blast out to right field. The three-run homer gave Marshall the lead, 3-1. The Owls made a pitching change to Lynn Gardner who had already thrown a bulk of the innings over the series.
The Herd added two more runs with another big blast as Harrell crushed her eighth home run of the season out to right-center. This time no damage was done to a vehicle, and it was the 38th of her career, tying Harrell back up with teammate Mya Stevenson for second all-time in program history. Marshall now led 5-1.
The Herd scored one final run in the bottom of the sixth when graduate Sierra Huerta hit a sacrifice fly to left-center that scored freshman Kat Sackett from third.
In the top of the seventh, FAU fought back scoring one run to close the gap to four, 6-2. The Herd then made a pitching change and brought in senior Laney Jones. The Owls then hit a three-run home run to make it a one-run contest, 6-5. Jones rebounded immediately retiring the next two batters to end the game.
Joyce earned the win, her third of the season after pitching 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits, four runs and striking out four. Jones earned the save, her second of the season and sixth of her career. Jones is now fifth all-time in team history with those six saves.
Marshall had just five hits in the game, making each one count, and all coming from the two through six spots in the lineup. Chelemen, Harrell, Pye, Stevenson and freshman Paige Halliwill all with one hit each. Pye drove in three runs for the third-straight contest. Huerta reached base twice in the game with one walk and one hit-by-pitch. Huerta leads the Herd with 17 walks and seven hit-by-pitches. The shortstop now has been plunked 43 times in her career, 10 behind Marshall's all-time leader in Marcena Bertoldo (2007-10). Senior Katie Adams was also hit by a pitch.
Marshall gets back out on the road in Conference USA play, April 23-25, at FIU.
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 (3-1)
L: Morgan, Abigail (1-6)
S: Jones, Laney (2)
Batting:
2B: Murray, Myah 1
HR: Ford, Jalynn 1
RBI: Jones, Zoey 1 ; Story, Bailey 1 ; Ford, Jalynn 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Murray, Myah 1 ; Jones, Zoey 2 ; Story, Bailey 1 ; Ford, Jalynn 1
Batting:
HR: Harrell, Aly 1 ; Pye, Saige 1
RBI: Huerta, Sierra 1 ; Harrell, Aly 2 ; Pye, Saige 3
SF: Huerta, Sierra 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pennington, Rachel 1 ; Chelemen, Grace 1 ; Harrell, Aly 2 ; Pye, Saige 1 ; Sackett, Kat 1
HBP: Huerta, Sierra 1 ; Adams, Katie 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
2
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
P
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