Softball Hits the Road for Regular Season Finale at Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Marshall softball team travels south for a four-game series, and the regular season finale, at the Charlotte 49ers on May 7-9. The series begins with a single game on Friday at 5 p.m., then a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m., and then finally one game on Sunday at 12 p.m.

The Thundering Herd enters the weekend with an overall record of 18-9 and 7-5 in Conference USA. The 49ers are 27-16 overall and 11-5 in conference play. Both teams are looking to clinch spots in the upcoming C-USA Tournament, May 12-15, in Bowling Green. Ky.

Only eight teams will be playing in the tournament with the top three teams from each division advancing as well as the next best two by league winning percentage. Charlotte is currently tops in the East and Marshall is in second, followed by Middle Tennessee at 9-7, WKU at 6-6, Florida Atlantic at 6-10 and then FIU at 5-11. The Blue Raiders finish the regular season at home against FIU and WKU takes on Florida Atlantic at home.

Series Details
Marshall Game Notes (PDF)
Charlotte 49er Events Attendance Policy
Friday, 5 p.m.: LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
Saturday Game One, 1 p.m.: LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
Saturday Game Two, 4 p.m.: LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
Sunday, 12 p.m.: LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
Marshall Radio: 88.1 WMUL-FM and online www.marshall.edu/wmul with Scott Hall
Series History: 28 all-time meetings, tied at 14-14
Last Meeting: March 16-17, 2019 in Charlotte – Marshall won the series 2-1

Last Time Out: Herd Takes Road Series at FIU
Marshall won its second-consecutive league series taking three games on the road over the FIU Panthers. The Herd took the first game 3-1 behind another great pitching performance from Cailey Joyce as well as some standout defensive plays. On offense, Mya Stevenson started what became a great weekend at the plate with two doubles and scored two runs. Saige Pye obliterated a pitch to left for a solo home run and Katie Adams had an RBI driving home Stevenson in the fourth with a single.

Marshall came out flying right from the start in game two. Grace Chelemen started the day with a single to right on the very first pitch. What followed was an offensive onslaught that put the Herd up for good as 12 batters came to the plate and Marshall put up seven runs. Sierra Huerta hit a homer to left for a three-run shot. Camryn Michallas drove in two runs and Saige Pye also drove in two with one RBI in each of two plate appearances in the inning. Brianna McCown came out in relief and pitched five innings with five strikeouts. Stevenson hit two more doubles and scored once. Megan Stauffer entered the circle in the sixth and finished the game as the Herd won 12-6.

FIU bounced back in game three, also the nightcap of the Saturday doubleheader, with a 5-2 victory. Aly Harrell hit her 39th career home run in the first inning, however the Herd couldn't muster much offense the rest of the way. Stevenson had one double, her fifth of the series and scored in the second after Katie Adams drove her home with a double as well.

On Sunday, Marshall was playing for the series win and FIU was playing for a split. The Panthers scored first in the bottom of the second, but then the Herd responded in the top of the third as Saige Pye hit a two-run homer to give Marshall the lead. The inning continued as Stevenson and Paige Halliwill both scored on a single from Grace Chelemen. FIU cut the Herd's lead to one, 4-3, in the bottom of the sixth. Marshall shot back in the top of the seventh to deflate the Panthers' momentum. Stevenson led off the inning with yet another double, her sixth of the series, and then Adams drilled a home run to right field. Kat Sackett added one more exclamation point with a solo homer to right-center. Stauffer once again finished the game in the circle, getting FIU to go down in order. The Herd took the game 7-3, and the series.

Mya Stevenson Heats Up in Conference Play
Junior Mya Stevenson has been heating up at the plate, and at the right time. Stevenson struggled through the beginning of the season as her batting average was under .100 through the first eight games, and had picked it up to .171 by the end of non-conference action. Since then, the Mesquite, Texas native is batting .390 in C-USA games and .438 over the last 10 contests. Over that 10-game stretch, Stevenson has 14 hits, six doubles, three home runs, is slugging .906 and has scored nine runs. Her six doubles all came in the series at FIU as she hit two in each of the first two games and then one in each of the last two. During the trip to Miami, Stevenson bat .571 (8-of-14) and scored six runs. Her home runs in C-USA play have come against Middle Tennessee (one) and Florida Atlantic (two). It is the perfect time for the record-breaking slugger's bat to catch fire as the Herd enters the final stretch.

2021 Warrior Award Winner: Blakely Burch
In memory of Emileigh Cooper, who the Herd Family tragically lost in February of 2016, the Marshall softball team established the Warrior Award in 2017, that will be given out each year to the player that best personifies the qualities that Cooper held as a member of the Herd from 2012 to 2015.

Burch came to Huntington in the summer of 2017 after spending her freshman season at USC Upstate. She mixed in right away with her new team playing in 48 games with 43 starts. Over the next four years, Blakely developed into a leader on and off the field, and came through clutch in many situations, whether with her bat or her glove. She starred in the 2019 season with 60 starts, and setting the team record for triples in a season with seven. You could always tell she was looking to take that next 60 feet with occasionally needing to slam on the breaks at second and having to settle for a double. She smacked a home run against WKU that put the Herd up and eventually led to a series win. Blakely had two walkoffs in her career with one in 2020 against East Tennessee State, and probably more famously her 2-run double to defeat Louisiana Tech on, none other than Emileigh Cooper Day. Blakely was off to a great start in 2020, including blasting a home run against her former team that helped lead Marshall to another victory, before unfortunately going down with a knee injury in the 14th game of the season, it would be her last of the year. However, that Warrior Mentality took over as she worked her way back from surgery, while also finishing school, planning a wedding and getting accepted into the nursing program at Jacksonville. In her career with the Green & White, Blakely has played in 148 games, has 88 hits, with 38 going for extra bases, including nine triples good for fourth all-time in program history, and 27 hit-by-pitches tied for sixth at MUSB. Her fire and passion was always present on the field and in the dugout, and will forever have a permanent place in Marshall Softball History. You can see a tribute video to Cooper and our newest Warrior Award winner right here.

The Opponent
The Charlotte 49ers are 27-16 overall, and lead the C-USA East Division at 11-5. The 49ers took 3-of-4 from Middle Tennessee, Florida Atlantic and FIU before splitting with WKU. All four games against the Hilltoppers on the road were close as the largest margin for either team was three, as WKU won the last game 6-3 on a walkoff 3-run homer. Since the WKU series, Charlotte has played four non-conference games and suffered losses in each one. The 49ers fell 10-2 against UNC Greensboro, dropped a doubleheader at (RV) Notre Dame (3-0 & 11-6), and then lost 3-0 at No. 22 James Madison on Wednesday. In the loss at JMU, Lindsey Walljasper went the distance allowing eight hits, however her defense was able to make some plays to help keep the 49ers in the contest. On offense, Charlotte managed six hits but struck out 11 times as Odicci Alexander improved to 10-0. This season, Charlotte is batting .286, and .283 in conference play, and the team is led by C-USA Player of the Year candidate Bailey Vannoy. The junior catcher has been explosive at the plate in her whole career, but in 2021 she is batting .411 with 21 doubles and 12 home runs, slugging .816 and has 115 total bases. The 49ers have totaled 84 doubles, 33 home runs and seven triples in 43 contests. Charlotte is also not afraid to steal as the team is 54-of-65 with Spenser Gray (15-of-15) and Vannoy (14-of-18) leading the way. In the circle, the team has a combined 3.36 ERA and 209 strikeouts. Walljasper leads with a 3.05 ERA, 12-8 record, 12 complete games and 94 strikeouts in 149.1 innings. Madelyn Wright is next with a 3.08 ERA, 12-6 record and 75 strikeouts in 100 innings. Head coach Ashley Chastain is in her second season at the helm. In the shortened 2020 season, she led the team to a 14-13 record, and she is now 41-29 overall.

Series History
Marshall and Charlotte have met many times over the years, including 10 times before becoming Conference USA foes. The series dates back to 1996 as the Herd took the first two games in Charlotte. Marshall won again in 1997 before the 49ers took the next two at a tournament in Chapel Hill. The Herd captured the next two games, in 1999 and 2000, before Charlotte took over in the series. The 49ers won the next five contests including two shutouts in 2010, the last time the programs met as non-conference opponents.

The first C-USA series came in 2014 in Charlotte as the 49ers took the first two games before Marshall came back with a 2-1 victory on Sunday to hold off the sweep. Charlotte won the series again in 2015, this time the Herd won the first game before falling in the next two.

The 49ers visited Huntington for the first time in 2016 and swept a struggling Marshall squad that managed to score just three runs all weekend.

In 2017, things turned around for the Herd with yet another visit to the Queen City. This time Marshall swept Charlotte and continued its winning streak that improved to 11 in-a-row after the Sunday win. The teams had a tight battle in the first game. The Herd took a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh, taking advantage of a 49ers' error. Then Abigail Estrada had the inning of a lifetime in left field recording all three outs including a diving catch, and one grab near the wall to help end the game. In game two, Marshall won 8-4 with 12 hits, four doubles, one home run and stole three bases. The Herd scored four runs in the fifth to help put the game away. Marshall dominated right from the start in game three as Jordan Dixon held Charlotte to just one hit, and Estrada hit a grand slam as part of a 6-run, sixth inning. The Herd won 8-0.

In 2018, the series returned to Huntington and Marshall came out victorious in the series again taking 2-of-3. Aly Harrell hit a home run in the game two loss, but drove in three runs in the game three victory.

The Herd went back to Charlotte in 2019, and the bats went off. Mya Stevenson hit for the cycle in game one and scored three times. Harrell also hit a homer and Abigail Tolbert earned her 12th win of the year. In game two, Stevenson hit two doubles and a home run driving in a career-high seven runs. Hannah Giammarino drilled a homer as well, had three hits and scored three times in the 13-0 shutout. Charlotte managed just three hits off Kailee Williamson as she improved to 6-0. On Sunday, it was the 49ers' turn to bring out the bats as the home team won 11-6. Hayden Ellis hit a home run for Marshall, but Charlotte racked up 16 hits including a 5-for-5 day from senior Kiersten Berrier. Following the series, Stevenson was named Conference USA Player of the Week.

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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Softball Hits the Road for Regular Season Finale at Charlotte

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Players Mentioned

Katie Adams

Blakely Burch

Grace Chelemen

Hayden Ellis

Abigail Estrada

Hannah Giammarino

Paige Halliwill

Aly Harrell

Sierra Huerta

Cailey Joyce

Brianna McCown

Camryn Michallas

Saige Pye

Kat Sackett

Megan Stauffer

Mya Stevenson

Abigail Tolbert

Kailee Williamson

Marshall University Athletics