Softball Travels South to take on FIU

MIAMI, Fla. – The Marshall softball team is back on the road to play the FIU Panthers in a four-game Conference USA Series, April 23-25, at Felsburg Field. The first game is scheduled for Friday at 5 p.m., then a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m., followed by the final contest on Sunday at 11:00 a.m.

The Thundering Herd enters the game with a 15-8 overall record and 4-4 in C-USA play. The Panthers are 11-18 overall and 3-5 in conference action.

Series Details
Marshall Game Notes
Live Stats: SIDEARM
Live Video Stream: Only the doubleheader on Saturday will be streamed on CUSAtv
Marshall Radio: All games will be broadcast on 88.1 WMUL-FM and audio online at www.marshall.edu/wmul with Scott Hall
Series History: 20 all-time meetings, Marshall leads 11-9
Last Meeting: April 13-14, 2019 in Miami – FIU won two-of-three

Last Time Out: Herd Wins Series over Owls in Final Home Series of 2021
Marshall bounced back in Conference USA play winning the series over the Florida Atlantic Owls. The Herd won the first game 1-0 on the back of a great pitching performance from Cailey Joyce and some tremendous plays from the defense. Joyce pitched the complete game allowing just four hits and striking out six for the shutout. Marshall scored its lone run off a bases loaded walk issued to Sierra Huerta that plated Blakely Burch.

Prior to the Saturday doubleheader, the Herd honored its four seniors in Huerta, Burch, Laney Jones and Megan Stauffer. The teams then took the field and got into a slugfest. Marshall lost game one 11-9, but rebounded in game two with an 8-7 walkoff win in the ninth inning. The Owls scored three runs in the sixth and then three in the top of the seventh to take a 7-5 lead. In the bottom of the seventh, with two outs, Saige Pye ripped her second double of the game to right-center that scored Huerta and Grace Chelemen to tie the game at 7-7. In the bottom of the ninth, again with two outs and Paige Halliwill at first, Aly Harrell hit a shot to the gap in left-center that allowed Halliwill to score for the walkoff winner. It was Harrell's first career walkoff.

In the series finale on Sunday, FAU got on the scoreboard first with one run in the third before Marshall answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame off a three-run bomb from Pye. Harrell added two more runs in the fifth with a homer and the Herd scored one more in the sixth to take a 6-1 lead. The Owls made things interesting in the seventh scoring four runs to cut the deficit to one. Jones finally ended the game inducing a fly out to Mya Stevenson in right field. Joyce earned the win, her second of the weekend and Jones tallied a save, her second of the year and sixth of her career.

Saige Pye Ties Single-Game Doubles Record
Senior Saige Pye made her presence at the plate known in the series with the Florida Atlantic Owls driving in three runs in each of the three games that she played. However, in the third game (game two of the Saturday doubleheader) Pye tied a program record that had only been achieved twice since 2000 and had not been done since 2005. Pye hit three doubles in three-straight plate appearances, all to right-center. Her first of the day followed a glass-shattering home run by Aly Harrell in the third inning that looked like things were really going to take off for Marshall's offense. The Owls ended the inning and Pye was stranded at second. Her second double of the day scored one run in the fifth, while her third of the day was the most clutch, scoring two runs to tie the game at 7-7. The last time a Marshall player hit three doubles in a game was Deanna Tourville against the Ohio Bobcats on April 16, 2005, 16 years and one day earlier. The first time the feat was accomplished since 2000 was by Hall of Famer Nichole Corrigan against Miami (OH) on May 5, 2000. Single game records from 1994-99 are incomplete.

The Opponent
FIU began C-USA action with a split against Florida Atlantic before dropping three-of-four on the road at Charlotte. After playing against Marshall, the Panthers stay home for a series against WKU and then end the regular season on the road at Middle Tennessee. FIU is in its second season under head coach Chris Steiner-Wilcoxson. She led the Panthers to an 8-9 record in 2020 and were on their way to Huntington when the sports world came to a halt on March 12 due to COVID-19.

FIU's offense is hitting .281 and has only been outscored by nine runs (139-130) in 2021. The Panthers have not been a home run-hitting team with 11 in 29 games, however the team has totaled eight triples good for 39th in NCAA in triples per game (.27). Vanessa Gallegos leads with a .379 average, 33 hits, and 29 RBI. Jessica Rivera is next hitting .326, and has nine extra base hits, leading the team with five homers. Kayla Whitehead is batting .325 with five doubles, three triples and one home run. The Panthers have been aggressive on the base paths with 43 stolen bases in 58 attempts.

In the circle, FIU has used four pitchers this year with a collective ERA of 3.77. Kendahl Dunford has been the main arm with 75 innings, a 3.27 ERA, 4-10 record, six complete games and 39 strikeouts. Brooklyn Linneman is next with 68.1 innings, a 4.30 ERA, a 4-4 record, five complete games and 30 strikeouts. Alexys Lawson has tossed 27.2 innings in nine appearances with four starts, a 3.29 ERA and 18 strikeouts. Kallie Jones has pitched 18.1 innings this season in 11 appearances, with a 4.58 ERA and 14 strikeouts.

The Series
Marshall and FIU first met way back on March 20, 1999 at the Winthrop Invitational. The Herd won 1-0. Fifteen years went by before the programs met again on the diamond, this time as Conference USA opponents as FIU had made the move to C-USA. Marshall swept the first series at home. So far, that first meeting has been the only sweep by either team.

In 2015, the Herd made the trip down to Miami and so the bats heat up with 26 runs in the first two games, before going cold in the series finale. Marshall dominated the first day with 13 runs off 15 hits in game one, including Morgan Zerkle's first career home run to go over the fence. The game featured a couple of long rain delays and finally ended at five hours and 33 minutes for a five inning game. Game two got started at 9 p.m., last another three-and-a-half hours and Marshall scored 13 more runs including seven in the top of the seventh. The Panthers silenced the Herd on national TV on Sunday with a 9-1 win.

FIU returned to Huntington in 2016 for Marshall's senior weekend. The Herd took game one, 8-0, in five innings thanks to a grand slam from Madi Marshall, the only home run of her career. FIU won game two 6-4, however the Panthers faced a buzzsaw on Sunday as senior pitcher Brittanie Fowler had the best game of her career. Fowler come on in relief in the second inning and pitched six shutout innings allowing just three hits. Marshall won the first three series, but things have really gone in favor of FIU since,

In 2017, the Herd flew south as winners of in 23 of its last 24 games and receiving votes in the top 25. Marshall won the first game, 2-1, as Jordan Dixon recorded the 100th win of her career. The first pitcher in program history to hit the century mark in victories. But it was all FIU from there. The Panthers won the next two games, 8-4 and 3-1, as well a 4-1 decision in the Conference USA Tournament.

The series came back to Huntington in 2018 and Marshall won the first game 10-9 as Jordan Colliflower hit a walkoff infield single to score Blakely Burch. Again the Panthers took the next two games, 10-2 and 9-5.

The last time these teams met came in April of 2019 down in Miami. This time, FIU won games one and two, 9-1 and 5-1, shutting down a Herd offense that had come in swinging a pretty hot bat after slugging it out with WKU the week before and winning that series. Aly Harrell was given a free pass in her first five plate appearances of the series with four walks and one hit-by-pitch. Game two began as a pitcher's duel as the Herd scored the first run in the top of the seventh. FIU responded with a run to tie the game and then a walkoff grand slam to end the day. Marshall came out fired up for game three as Abigail Tolbert held the Panthers to just four hits and one run, while the offense scored seven runs on nine hits for the 7-1 victory. Rachel Rousseau and Mya Stevenson both hit homers and Harrell was plunked twice.

The two programs were supposed to meet again March 13-15 in Huntington. FIU was even on its way to Huntington when the teams learned that the season was going to be suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 12. Later, the season was canceled.

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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Players Mentioned

Blakely Burch

Grace Chelemen

Paige Halliwill

Aly Harrell

Sierra Huerta

Laney Jones

Cailey Joyce

Saige Pye

Rachel Rousseau

Megan Stauffer

Mya Stevenson

Abigail Tolbert

Marshall University Athletics