Softball Welcomes UTEP for Senior Weekend

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Marshall softball team is back at Dot Hicks Field Friday through Sunday, April 29-May 1, as the UTEP Miners come to town for a three-game series. It is Senior Weekend for Marshall as fifth-year seniors Armani Brown, Saige Pye, Aly Harrell, Katie Adams and Madison Whitaker will be honored before the start of Saturday's game.

The Thundering Herd enters the series with an overall record of 30-13 and 12-6 in Conference USA. The Miners come in at 14-29 overall and 4-14 in league action. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+ as well as broadcast on 88.1 WMUL-FM with audio streamed online. Links are below.

Series Details
Marshall Game Notes (PDF)
Live Stats: SIDEARM
Friday 1 p.m. LIVE STREAM
Saturday 1 p.m. LIVE STREAM
Sunday 12 p.m. LIVE STREAM
Marshall Radio: 88.1 WMUL-FM, audio streamed online at www.marshall.edu/wmul
Series History: 31 all-time meetings, Marshall leads 21-9-1
Last Meeting: March 12-13, 2016, in Huntington – Marshall swept the series 10-1, 5-1 and 8-3

The Herd is coming off a tough weekend on the road at WKU, losing two of the three games in the series. Marshall took game one 2-0 from a 2-run home run by senior Mya Stevenson and 11 strikeouts from redshirt junior Sydney Nester. The Herd began game two by launching the long ball as Pye smashed two and Stevenson hit another through the first three innings. However, Marshall could not keep it going as WKU fought back and won 10-9 to even the series. Game three belonged to the Hilltoppers, 10-0, to win the weekend.

Stevenson's two home runs out in Bowling Green now put her just one homer away from tying Marshall Hall of Famer Rachel Folden (2005-08) for the all-time Herd record. Folden hit 58 over 225 games during her career with the Green & White, averaging one homer every 3.88 games. Stevenson has 57 in just 162 games played, launching one out every 2.84 games.

Stevenson and Pye have been a lethal combination at the plate this season with a total of 31 home runs between them with seven regular season games left to go. They have the second-most homers between two players in a season in team history. Stevenson (20) and Harrell (14) belted a total of 34 in 2019. Folden (17) and Samantha Rodriguez (13) combined for 30 in 2008. Stevenson and Pye have been on a tear with 10 homers each and slugging over .900 in C-USA play.

As a team, the Herd is batting .322 and slugging .550.

Nester continues to lead in the circle with a 22-7 record, 1.77 ERA and 250 strikeouts in 182.1 innings pitched. Nester ranks third in the NCAA in shutouts (10), fourth in wins and fifth in strikeouts.

Following the series against UTEP, Marshall hits the road to end the season. First is a non-conference, midweek contest at Akron set for a 2 p.m. start on Tuesday May 3. The Herd ends the regular season at North Texas, May 6-8. The Conference USA Tournament will also be played at North Texas, May 11-14.

The Opponent
The Miners are coming off a series win against Middle Tennessee. UTEP took games one (2-1) and three (4-3) in close contests at Helen of Troy Softball Complex in El Paso, Texas. The Blue Raiders won game two, 6-1. Aalijah Alarcon earned both of the wins. In game one, she held Middle Tennessee to just four hits, no walks and struck out four. In game three, the Blue Raiders racked up 11 hits but could not take advantage leaving eight on base. Alarcon again did not issue any free passes pitching the complete game. Aija Richard provided the walk-off with an RBI single that scored Lexi Morales for the win.

As a team, the Miners are batting .231 and do not feature a batter over .300 for the year. Morales leads with a .283 average and 20 runs scored. Pate Cathey leads in hits (36), doubles (nine), RBI (24) and is tied with Anna Sample for the lead in homers with four.

In the circle, five pitchers have thrown at least 29 innings. Alarcon has been the main arm with a 4.74 ERA, 9-13 record and 69 strikeouts in 113.2 innings. Zaylie Calderon has the second-most innings with 44.1 and has 40 strikeouts. Mackenzee Collins has 43 innings and a 2-6 record.

Head coach T.J. Hubbard is in his third season in El Paso, taking over just before the 2020 season. 2022 is the first time that coach Hubbard's crew has been able to play more than 40 games. They played just 22 games in 2020 before the COVID shutdown and then played 37 games in 2021, the second fewest in C-USA (Marshall played just 32).

The Miners will end the regular season back at home to host the UAB Blazers, May 6-8.

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---

Marshall University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Katie Adams

Armani Brown

Aly Harrell

Sydney Nester

Saige Pye

Mya Stevenson

Madison Whitaker

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