Softball Set to Welcome Regional Rival Morehead State to Dot Hicks Field

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Marshall softball team is back on the diamond on Wednesday at home as the Morehead State Eagles make the short trip east on I-64. The teams will play just one game with first pitch set for 3 p.m.

The Thundering Herd enter the game 28-11 overall while the Eagles come in at 5-27.

Game Details:
Live Stats: SIDEARM
Live Stream: ESPN+
Marshall Radio: 88.1 WMUL-FM with audio streamed online www.marshall.edu/wmul
Series History: 40 all time meetings, Marshall leads 31-9
Last Meeting: April 30, 2019, in Morehead – Marshall won both games in the doubleheader, 11-1 and 11-3. Both contests were five-inning victories. Blakely Burch set the single-season triples record (7) in game two.

Marshall is coming off a three-game sweep at home over the FIU Panthers. The Herd tossed two shutouts coming in game one (6-0) and game three (8-0) and pulled out a 3-2 victory in game two. The game two win was the 500th in the coaching career of Megan Smith Lyon. She has 108 victories in just 161 games at Marshall. The Herd also hit its 50th homer of the season in the game one win.

Redshirt junior Sydney Nester was named Conference USA Pitcher of the Week for the sixth time on Monday. She had three wins and one save in four appearances last week. Nester pitched the complete-game wins for both shutouts against FIU, her first shutouts since back in early March against Fairfield. She has nine shutouts this year, good for fourth-most in a single-season in team history.

In a special ceremony before game three on Saturday, Emileigh Cooper Day, fifth-year senior Aly Harrell was named the 2022 Warrior Award winner. Her love of the game, her team, teammates, and school have been evident since walked through the door back in the fall of 2017. Butch and Jody Cooper, Emileigh's parents, were on hand to present the honor to Harrell.

Marshall's offense is batting .327 as a unit with 246 runs scored and 331 hits. The Herd is approaching the team record for doubles in a season, currently with 75. The record of 83 was set in 2019, coach Smith Lyon's first season at the helm in Huntington.

Harrell along with fifth-year senior Saige Pye and senior Mya Stevenson all have at least 41 hits. Harrell and Stevenson are tied for the lead in doubles with 11. Meanwhile, Pye and Stevenson are tied for the team lead in home runs with 14.

Following the game against Morehead State, Marshall travels to Bowling Green, Ky., to take on the WKU Hilltoppers. The three-game series is scheduled for April 22-24.

The Opponent
Despite the 5-27 record, the Eagles are coming to Huntington on a high note after a three-game sweep of Ohio Valley Conference foe SIU-Edwardsville (7-0, 4-2, 8-4). Kirya Kingery, who went to Cabell-Midland High School in Barboursville, W.Va., had four hits and scored three runs in the sweep.

The Eagles are batting .215 as a team and have scored 81 runs. Madeline Gallor leads the team with a .317 average, 20 hits and five doubles. Kingery is batting .274 with 17 hits.

Morehead State has used four pitchers this season, all throwing at least 12 innings. Lennon Spicer has been the main arm with 93 innings pitched, a 4.89 ERA, 3-13 record, 14 starts, 11 complete games and 65 strikeouts.

Head coach Samantha Jones is in her fourth year leading the Eagles.

Following the game at Marshall, Morehead State travels to Nashville for a three-game series against Belmont, April 23-24.

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 Set to Welcome Regional Rival Morehead State to Dot Hicks Field

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Blakely Burch

Aly Harrell

Sydney Nester

Saige Pye

Mya Stevenson

Marshall University Athletics