Softball Heads South for Battle at the Beach

CONWAY, S.C. – The Marshall softball team hits the road for the Battle at the Beach, Feb. 18-20, hosted by the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. The Herd will play five games over three days against Coastal Carolina, South Carolina and Fordham.

The Thundering Herd enters the weekend 3-1. Marshall's neutral games against South Carolina and Fordham will be streamed on Facebook Live. There will not be a video stream for the Herd's games versus Coastal Carolina. All games will be broadcast on 88.1 WMUL-FM with audio streamed online at www.marshall.edu/wmul on either Stream 1 or Stream 2. Links for each game are below.

Tickets
CCU will be allowing fans inside St. John Stadium this weekend. Fans can purchase tickets for $15 per day of the tournament. To purchase tickets, click here or visit the ticket tent at the stadium on game day.

Clear Bag Policy
Coastal Carolina University Athletics has a Clear Bag Policy for all ticketed events. For more information regarding the Clear Bag Policy at St. John Stadium, click here.

Tournament Details
Marshall Game Notes (PDF)
Friday: vs. South Carolina at 10 a.m. FACEBOOK LIVE | LIVE STATS
at Coastal Carolina at 3 p.m. LIVE STATS
Saturday: vs. South Carolina at 10 a.m. FACEBOOK LIVE | LIVE STATS
at Coastal Carolina at 3 p.m. LIVE STATS
Sunday: vs. Fordham at 10 a.m. FACEBOOK LIVE | LIVE STATS
Series History:
South Carolina – 5th all-time meeting, SC leads 3-1.
Last meeting March 4, 2018 – No. 20 South Carolina won 11-3 in Columbia, S.C.
Coastal Carolina – 8th all-time meeting, CC leads 5-2
Last meeting Feb. 15, 2019 – Coastal won 1-0 in Conway, S.C.
Fordham – 3rd all-time meeting – MU leads 2-0
Last meeting Feb. 17, 2007 – Marshall won 10-9 in Gainesville, Fla.

Marshall is coming off playing four games at the Buzz Classic, Feb. 11-12, in Atlanta. The Herd played Saint Joseph's twice, winning both 8-0 and 6-4. Marshall played Villanova twice and took a split falling 9-1 in the first game and then winning 8-0 in the second.

The Herd bats opened the year tying the program single-game record with five home runs. Fifth-year seniors Katie Adams, Aly Harrell, Madison Whitaker and Saige Pye all belted a shot, while senior Mya Stevenson hit the fifth and final homer of the day to lead off the sixth inning and end the game by the mercy rule.

Marshall also saw the incredible debut of redshirt junior pitcher Sydney Nester. The transfer from North Carolina State struck out 13 batters in six innings against Saint Joseph's to begin her Herd career. Nester allowed only two hits and zero walks while earning the complete-game shutout. In her second start she fanned 11 Villanova batters over five innings on the way to another shutout. Nester earned her third win of the weekend coming on in relief in the Saturday nightcap against Saint Joseph's. She pitched the final three innings as the Herd came back for the win. Nester finished the weekend with a 3-0 record, 25 strikeouts, gave up only six hits and did not allow a run across 14 innings.

Freshman Lauren Love came through clutch for the Herd with a 2-run home run in the sixth inning versus Saint Joseph's to give Marshall the lead and the eventual victory. Love is the 17th different player to hit a home run for Marshall since head coach Megan Smith Lyon took over before the 2019 season. Since 2019, the Herd has hit 184 home runs over 126 games, an average of 1.46 per game.

Stevenson smashed another long ball in the Saturday victory over Villanova and is now the Herd's active career leader with 42, second all-time in team history. Harrell is right behind with 41.

Coach Smith Lyon is in her fourth season leading the Herd and sports a record of 83-43 in her time with the Green & White. She has 476 wins overall in her collegiate coaching career.

Following the games at the Battle at the Beach, Marshall hits the road for one more early season tournament at the Camel Stampede, Feb. 25-27, hosted by Campbell.

The Opponents
South Carolina: 3-2
The Gamecocks opened the 2022 season at home with wins against Virginia (3-2), Lipscomb (12-6) and George Washington (14-5). The weekend ended with an 8-3 loss to North Carolina.

South Carolina then played the Charlotte 49ers at home for a single game on Wednesday, and fell 6-1. The Gamecocks had eight hits and drew three walks, but stranded nine runners on base. South Carolina committed five errors in the loss. Starting pitcher Karsen Ochs allowed five runs in just over five innings, none of the runs were earned.

Offensively, South Carolina has had plenty of early season success batting .379 as a team with 50 hits and 33 runs scored. Jordan Fabian leads the way with a .533 average with eight hits and scored seven runs. She is also 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts. Four more players are batting .400 or better including Katie Prebble who has two of the team's three home runs and leads with seven RBI.

Ochs has the most innings in the circle so far with 16. She is 0-2 with a 3.06 ERA and seven strikeouts. Leah Powell has 12 innings with a 2.92 ERA, 2-0 record and four strikeouts.

Errors have been an issue for South Carolina with 12 this season and a .928 fielding percentage. The team has turned four double plays.

Head coach Beverly Smith is in her 12th season leading the Gamecocks. She has a record of 362-249.

Coastal Carolina: 3-2
The Chanticleers get to open the year with three-straight home tournaments before finally going on the road to start the month of March. Coastal Carolina hosted Purdue, Georgetown and East Carolina, Feb. 11-13, during the Kickin' Chicken Classic. The Chanticleers defeated Georgetown twice, 9-4 and 13-9, and took down East Carolina 10-4. Coastal lost both contests versus Purdue, 7-5 and 9-4.

The Chanticleers have been rolling at the plate, smashing 15 home runs to lead the country. Seven different players have hit at least one, with five crushing two or more. Abbey Montoya leads the team with four homers out of her eight total hits, and has 11 RBI. Montoya is also batting .421, good for third on the team. Iyanla De Jesus leads the team with a .471 average with two doubles and two home runs. Coastal Carolina has nine doubles as well and a team slugging percentage of .697, seventh in the nation.

In the circle, the Chanticleers have a team ERA of 5.20 and have allowed 41 runs. Nicolette Picone leads the way with a 2.92 ERA, a 2-1 record and seven strikeouts in 12 innings. Six different pitchers have tossed at least two innings.

Defense has also been a problem in the beginning of the year as Coastal Carolina has committed 14 errors and a .917 fielding percentage.

Head coach Kelley Green is in her 13th season at the helm at Coastal. She has a 378-273 record with the Chanticleers and 724 overall coaching victories in her career.

Fordham: 2-3
The Rams began the year out in the desert at the Grand Canyon Kick-off Classic in Phoenix. Fordham, picked to finish second in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll, earned wins over Weber State, 4-1, and Northern Colorado, 3-2. The Rams took losses to Weber State (5-1), Grand Canyon (10-2) and Kansas (6-2).

The Rams are batting .194 as a team with 24 hits and 12 runs this season. Amanda Carey (.429) and Bailey Enoch (.417) are the only hitters over .300 to start the year. Enoch has five hits, one home run, four RBI and has scored two runs. Brianna Pinto has all four of Fordham's stolen bases.

Pitcher Makenzie McGrath was named Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week after earning two wins and a 0.70 ERA over 10 innings. She tossed the complete-game win over Weber State on Saturday allowing just four hits and one run. McGrath allowed just one earned run in her three appearances. Devon Miller leads in innings with 12.2 and strikeouts with 13. She has a 4.97 ERA.

Head coach Melissa Inouye is in her fourth season leading the Rams. She has a 75-52 record at Fordham and 187 overall wins in her coaching career.

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.

---HerdZone.com---

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Players Mentioned

Katie Adams

Aly Harrell

Lauren Love

Sydney Nester

Saige Pye

Mya Stevenson

Madison Whitaker

Marshall University Athletics