Softball Heads to Ohio to Renew Rivalry with the Bobcats

ATHENS, Ohio – After playing eight-straight games at home, the Marshall softball team heads back out on the road for a single game against the Ohio Bobcats on Wednesday. First pitch from the Ohio Softball Field is set for 6 p.m.

The Thundering Herd enters the game with an overall record of 16-5. The Bobcats come in at 5-12.

Game Details
Marshall Game Notes (PDF)
Video Stream: YOUTUBE
Live Stats: SIDEARM
Marshall Radio: 88.1 WMUL-FM audio streamed online www.marshall.edu/wmul on Stream 1 with Scott Hall on the call
Series History: 60th all-time meeting – Marshall leads 38-21 – It is Marshall oldest and most played rivalry
Last Meeting: Feb. 15, 2020, in Chattanooga, Marshall came back to win 6-5, Aly Harrell drove in four runs including the go-ahead 2-run double in the sixth.

Marshall is coming off a 3-0 weekend for the Thundering Herd March Madness. The schedule had to be altered due to snow and cold temperatures that swept through the area Saturday and into Sunday. The Herd defeated Fairfield, 8-0, Norfolk State, 7-6, and then Fairfield again 8-4.

Fifth-year senior Aly Harrell leads Marshall at the plate batting .475 with 28 hits, 19 runs and 15 walks. She is third with six doubles and fourth in RBI with 17. Harrell leads the team, Conference USA and ranks sixth in the nation with a .608 on base percentage.

Senior Mya Stevenson ranks 16th in the NCAA, and first in C-USA, with nine doubles. She is also 23rd in the nation in doubles per game (0.43). Fifth-year senior Saige Pye is the Herd leader in home runs (six) and RBI (21. Freshman Lauren Love is right behind Pye with 20 RBI.

Redshirt junior Sydney Nester continues her great start to the season and ranks in the top 50 in the NCAA in nine different categories including second in the country in shutouts with seven. Nester has already doubled her total of 10+ strikeouts games from her three years at North Carolina State (four) with eight in 2022. She is tied for fourth-most in a single season. The record is 12 and belongs to Andi Williamson who set the mark in 2013 while finishing with a program record 364 strikeouts. Nester has 136 strikeouts and ranks third in the NCAA.

Following the single game at Ohio, Marshall stays out on the road to begin Conference USA action. The Herd heads south to Birmingham, Alabama, to take on UAB. The three-game series is set for March 18-20, with one game played each day.

Winning Streak: 11 - 3rd-longest in MUSB History
Marshall continues to roll in the month of March. After three more wins at home, the Herd has increased its win streak to 11, the third-longest in team history. The MUSB record winning streak belongs to the 2017 squad that won 17 in-a-row. The C-USA Championship winning team in 2013 owns the second-longest streak at 14 games.

Autumn Owen Keeps Getting on Base
Sophomore Autumn Owen is hitting her stride. Before this season began, the transfer from Gardner-Webb had not played in a meaningful game since March 11, 2020. The Runnin' Bulldogs were off to a great year, including a 17-game win streak, when the remainder of the season was canceled due to the COVID pandemic. Owen then missed the entire 2021 season from injury.

Now 21 games into the 2022 season, Owen is looking like her old self. She rolled through the Thundering Herd March Madness batting .875 (7-of-8) and reached base safely 10-of-11 plate appearances. She is on a 6-game hitting streak and has produced two or more hits in 4-straight games, tied for the fourth-longest streak in team history.

Armani Brown Gets it Rolling
Armani Brown had been struggling at the plate going 0-for-14 to start the year. Against Maryland Eastern Shore, Brown took another chance at the plate and went 2-for-2 with a walk, stolen base and scored a run. She kept it rolling in her next game against Fairfield going 3-for-3 and setting a career-high with three RBI. She did not reach against Norfolk State (0-for-1) but did record a sacrifice bunt. In the finale against Fairfield, Brown tallied another hit with a perfectly placed bunt and outran the defense for a single. Brown later scored and had a walk in the game. After her 0-for-14 start, Brown went 6-of-9 (.667) at the plate over a four-game stretch.

Nester Named C-USA Pitcher of the Week, Again
Sydney Nester had another strong weekend in the circle for Marshall during the Thundering Herd March Madness. She began the tournament with a one-hit shutout over Fairfield in six innings, 8-0. Nester walked just one batter and struck out six while receiving great defensive play. She came on in relief to start the sixth inning in the nightcap against Norfolk State. Nester struck out three of the six batters she faced, allowed one hit, and induced a grounder that resulted in a 5-4-3 double play to end the game and preserve the win. Nester earned the save, her second of the year.

Nester kept on rolling in the weekend finale, facing Fairfield again. She rebounded from a rough start, allowing four runs through the first three innings, to completely shut down the Stags. Nester struck out the last seven batters she faced and finished the game with a season-high 15, which also tied her career-high set back in 2019 against the College of Charleston (in nine innings) while pitching for North Carolina State. Nester's 15 Ks was the most by a Herd pitcher since Jordan Dixon put up 15 in a win over Northern Kentucky in 2015. It is also tied for the third-most by a Marshall pitcher in a single game.

The Opponent: Ohio
The Bobcats are coming off a 1-2 weekend at the Bluegrass Classic co-hosted by Kentucky and Louisville. Ohio fell 16-8 to No. 12 Kentucky and then defeated Eastern Kentucky, 7-2, on Thursday in Lexington. Due to inclement weather, the Bobcats were only able to play just one of its Friday games in Louisville, falling 7-5 to Indiana. The game against Louisville was canceled.

The contest against Marshall is the 2022 home-opener for Ohio and will also be the last game before starting Mid-American Conference play on Friday at Buffalo.

At the plate, the Bobcats are batting .260 as a unit with 73 runs scored. Three players are hitting over .300 with Annalia Paoli (.367), Allie Englant (.362) and Brooke Rice (.349). Englant leads in hits with 21 and in stolen bases with 12. Rice and Paoli have six total extra base hits each. Caroline Spacek is the leader in home runs with three.

Ohio has used just two pitchers so far this season. Mackensie Kohl leads with a 4.80 ERA, 4-6 record, eight complete games, and 35 strikeouts in 58.1 innings. Kylie Coffelt has tossed 44.2 innings with a 7.52 ERA, 1-6 record, seven complete games and 22 strikeouts.

Head coach Kenzie Roark is in her fourth season at the helm. She has a 71-75 record in her time in Athens.

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---

Softball Heads to Ohio to Renew Rivalry with the Bobcats

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Players Mentioned

Armani Brown

Aly Harrell

Lauren Love

Sydney Nester

Autumn Owen

Saige Pye

Mya Stevenson

Marshall University Athletics