Stevenson Makes History and Adams Walks it Off as Herd Softball Fights to Continue Season

Game One (LA Tech) Box Score (PDF)
Game Two (Charlotte) Box Score (PDF)

DENTON, Texas – The Marshall softball team rebounded and fought back after a rough start to the day to keep its season going at the Conference USA Tournament. The Herd fell to No. 1 seed Louisiana Tech, 16-8, in the first game and then earned a 10-9 walk-off victory over No. 7 seed Charlotte to advance to day three. Senior Mya Stevenson is now Marshall's all-time home run leader hitting her 59th, and fifth-year senior Katie Adams provided the walk-off base hit.

The Thundering Herd is now 35-17 overall and will play No. 3 seed WKU on Friday in another elimination game. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT. The winner will play immediately afterward against the loser of No. 1 seed Louisiana Tech and No. 2 seed North Texas with the chance to go to the Championship game on Saturday. The games will be streamed on ESPN+ and Marshall's games will also be broadcast on 88.1 WMUL-FM with audio streamed online at www.marshall.edu/wmul on Stream 1 with Scott Hall on the call.

Stevenson began her date with history on Feb. 15, 2019, and it came to play in a clutch situation in the bottom of the seventh of the second game of the day.

But first, Marshall fell to the No. 1 seed to drop to the bottom half of the bracket.

Game One: No. 1 seed Louisiana Tech 16, No. 4 seed Marshall 8 (5 innings)
The Herd struggled in the circle against the Lady Techsters allowing 14 hits, six walks and four hit batters.

Marshall started the game with two solo home runs in the top of the first. Fifth-year senior Aly Harrell crushed a shot to center, her third home run of the tournament and the 52nd of her career. Two batters later, fifth-year senior Saige Pye sent a line drive shot down the left-field line and over the wall for her 19th of the season. It was also her 33rd career home run with Marshall taking over sole possession of fifth-place in team history.

The Lady Techsters responded with four runs in the bottom of the first to take the lead. The Herd scored two runs in the top of the second. Fifth-year seniors Madison Whitaker and Katie Adams were on base after back-to-back singles and were both in scoring position with two outs. Chelemen hit a grounder that was misplayed at second allowing both Whitaker and Adams to score. The game was tied at 4-4.

Louisiana Tech scored three more runs in the bottom of the second to retake the lead, and then plated four more in the bottom of the fourth.

The Herd fought back in the top of the fifth, scoring four more to pull within three at 11-8. With Chelemen on base, Pye was walked and then Stevenson drove a pitch up the middle that scored Chelemen. Next, Owen doubled to center scoring freshman Rielly Lucas who was in to run for Pye. Freshman Lauren Love hit a sacrifice fly to left-center that allowed Stevenson to score and then Whitaker plated Owen with a single to right.

Unfortunately for Marshall, the struggles continued in the bottom of the fifth as Louisiana Tech scored five runs to end the game early.

Redshirt junior Sydney Nester took the loss throwing the first two innings. Sophomore Brianna McCown came out to start the third and pitched into the fourth. Junior Ashley Blessin came in next finishing the fourth and then being relieved in the fifth by redshirt junior Cailey Joyce.

Offensively, the Herd had eight hits and drew three walks. Harrell was 2-for-2 with a home run, single and one walk. Whitaker collected two hits, scored one run and had one RBI. Pye, Stevenson, Owen and Adams had one hit each. Pye and Stevenson also had one walk each.

Pye's solo home run gave her the 100th RBI of her Marshall career, making Pye the 14th member of the Herd 100 RBI Club.

Game Two: Marshall 10, Charlotte 9
It was another offensive showcase that saw Marshall take the lead, give up the lead, and then fight back for the walk-off win with its collective back against the wall, starring at the potential end of the season. The game lasted well into the night and saw history get made from Mya Stevenson.

The 49ers started the exciting game with a two-run homer in the first from 2022 C-USA Player of the Year Bailey Vannoy. Trailing 2-0, Marshall showed its first bit of fight scoring four runs in the bottom of the first. With Grace Chelemen on first, Saige Pye ripped a double off the wall in left. Chelemen flew around the bases and crossed the plate to get the Herd on the board. It was the 50th RBI of the season for Pye as Marshall made history again this year. Pye and Stevenson become the first pair of Herd teammates with 50 or more RBI in a season.

The inning continued two batters later as Autumn Owen reached with a single to right and then Lauren Love drove home Pye with a single down the left-field line. Madison Whitaker drew a walk and then Katie Adams plated Owen and Love with a single to right. Marshall led 4-2.

The Herd added one more run in the bottom of the second as Aly Harrell blasted her fourth home run of the tournament, 13th of the season, and 53rd of her career to center.

Sydney Nester struck out the side in the top of the second and then picked up her fourth strikeout of the night in the third. Fifth-year senior Armani Brown had the assist on the next two outs to strand a runner at third.

In the top of the fourth, Chelemen ran down a line drive deep into the gap in right-center to take away a potential extra base hit. She caught one more fly ball in the inning as Marshall continued to keep a 5-2 lead.

Charlotte's offense got on a roll in the top of the fifth scoring six runs off five hits and three walks to take an 8-5 lead. Eight batters came to the plate before Marshall recorded the first out of the inning on a fly ball to left, grabbed by Love. A liner to Brown and short and finally a force out at third ended the inning.

The Herd began its comeback with a great response in the bottom of the fifth. Pye led off the inning with a solo bomb to right-center. The shot cleared the high net and cut Marshall's deficit to two, 8-6. It was Pye's 20th homer of the season, tied for the most in a year in team history with Stevenson's record-setting number back in 2019. The blast fired up the Herd and led to the second pitching change of the night for Charlotte.

Marshall kept up the fight as Stevenson reached on a base hit to center after Lindsey Walljasper came in to pitch. Owen stepped up next with a double down the left-field line moving Stevenson to third. Love flew out to center, but Stevenson tagged up and sprinted home for the sacrifice fly. Whitaker reached with a base hit up the middle that moved Owen to third base, and then Adams plated Owen with another sacrifice fly, this time to left. Marshall tied the game at 8-8.

Charlotte scored one run in the top of the sixth to take back the lead at 9-8. The Herd's batters were retired in order in the bottom of the sixth with the last two coming on strikeouts.

Despite the rough inning in the fifth, Nester stayed out in the circle and displayed a lot of grit, toughness and fight. The first out in the top of the seventh was snagged in foul territory on a pop up by Owen. The next batter grounded out to Owen at third who made the throw across the diamond to Harrell at first. Nester then tallied her sixth strikeout of the night to end the top of the seventh. It was Nester's 294th strikeout of the year, tied for the third-most in a season at Marshall.

Stevenson came to the plate to lead off the bottom of the seventh with the Herd trailing by one, 9-8. On the first pitch of the at bat, Stevenson blasted her record-breaking 59th home run over the scoreboard in left-center. As the shot, and the old record, disappeared into the night, the dugout and the Marshall fans in attendance were electrified as Stevenson tied the game at 9-9. It was also the ninth home run in three games at the Conference USA Tournament by the Herd bats.

Two batters later, the final steps of the comeback started as Love hit a two-out double to center. The game-winning run was now in scoring position. Whitaker moved Love to third with a single to center leading to Adams coming to the plate. On a 2-1 count, Adams pulled a pitch to the right side that snuck its way through the Charlotte shift into right field as Love ran home.

Marshall emptied the dugout and mobbed Adams near first base after her first career walk-off.

The Charlotte 49ers, who were picked to finish first in the preseason coaches' poll, and made it in the tournament as the No. 7 seed, were eliminated.

Nester earned her 26th win of the season, fifth-most in a year in team history.

Marshall finished the game with 13 hits. Pye, Stevenson, Owen, Love, Whitaker and Adams all had two hits each. Harrell had one hit and one walk. Brown had four assists and two putouts on defense. Adams led the team tying her season-high with four RBI. Love and Pye had two RBI each.

Stevenson's history making home run came up clutch as it helped Marshall's season continue. Blessed with an effortless swing, the ball comes off her bat different than other players and with a very solid sound. She hit her first career homer against EKU and off Mollie Paulick as the Herd won 5-2, in her fourth career game. Number 59 came in Stevenson's 171st career game. It was also her fifth home run in a conference tournament game.

The Mesquite, Texas, native has hit a home run in 53 games and the Herd's record is 40-13 in those games. She has hit 18 at Dot Hicks Field, 24 on the road, 17 at neutral sites and a total of 27 against C-USA schools. Thursday night's bomb was her fifth homer against Charlotte. Stevenson belted two in the series her freshman year in 2019. In game one, she hit for the cycle and finished with seven RBI.

Stevenson hit her first career walk-off with her third career homer against UMass-Lowell on Feb. 22, 2019. She hit her tenth career bomb on April 23, 2019, at home against Louisville. She ended the 2019 season with a new team single-season record 20 homers after punching out two against Kent State at the NISC Tournament on May, 18. Stevenson led all freshmen across Division I with her 20 home runs

The 2020 season was cut short after just 25 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And it ended what was looking to be an amazing season for the sophomore slugger. Stevenson was tied for the NCAA lead with 12 home runs and was second in the country with 36 RBI. She smashed late go-ahead homers in two games against Norfolk State and her 30th career homer also put the Herd up late in an eventual 9-8 win over Rutgers at home.

In 2021, Stevenson was not slugging as she had been before. She still hit eight including two big blasts in the Conference USA Tournament. Her first was a grand slam against Louisiana Tech that entered the third floor of the parking garage on a line beyond the left field wall at WKU's field that wowed the crowd. She smashed another one in the next game against Charlotte.

Stevenson entered this season with 40 career home runs, needing 19 to set the record. She went on a tear in the month of March with eight bombs. Stevenson hit her 50th against Middle Tennessee on March 25 at home to become the second member of the Marshall 50 Home Run Club. She smashed two more home runs at Florida Atlantic. The first tied the game at 2-2, and then the second gave Marshall the lead for good in the eighth on the way to a 7-2 win.

She finally tied the record in game three against North Texas on May 8. Stevenson hit the record-breaker on the same field, and hitting it with her family in attendance as the new Marshall Softball Home Run Queen grew up just 50 miles away from Denton.

Mya Stevenson has re-written the Herd record books and has etched her name into Marshall Athletics immortality.

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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Stevenson Makes History and Adams Walks it Off as Herd Softball Fights to Continue Season

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Team Stats

Aly Harrell

Madison Whitaker

Saige Pye

Mya Stevenson

Players Mentioned

Katie Adams

Ashley Blessin

Armani Brown

Grace Chelemen

Aly Harrell

Cailey Joyce

Lauren Love

Rielly Lucas

Brianna McCown

Sydney Nester

Autumn Owen

Saige Pye

Mya Stevenson

Madison Whitaker

Players Mentioned

Katie Adams

Ashley Blessin

Armani Brown

Grace Chelemen

Aly Harrell

Cailey Joyce

Lauren Love

Rielly Lucas

Brianna McCown

Sydney Nester

Autumn Owen

Saige Pye

Mya Stevenson

Madison Whitaker

Marshall University Athletics