Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
3-3
Fairfield
0-1
Herd Softball Uses Strong Pitching, Timely Hitting in Doubleheader Sweep
2/16/2024 6:19:00 PM | Softball
Marshall defeats Fairfield and Longwood Friday
GREENVILLE, N.C. — Marshall's softball team opened its second weekend of the season with a pair of victories over Fairfield and Longwood at the ECU Pirate Clash.
The Herd defeated Fairfield in the opener, 7-1. Marshall then rallied to defeat Longwood, 6-3 in extra innings.
MU pitchers Savannah Rice and Bub Feringa each tossed complete-game performances. Rice struck out 10 UF hitters while allowing just four hits. Feringa went all eight innings in the second win, with five strikeouts, a new career-high.
Brooklyn Ulrich led the team with five total hits Friday, including a pair of timely knocks in the second win.
First Game: Marshall 7, Fairfield 1
The Herd scored early on an Abby Darnley RBI hit with two outs in the 1st. The lead would be good for Rice who punched out eight in the first four frames.
The lone Stags damage came on one swing in the top of the 5th with a solo shot to left. The hit was one of only two Fairfield had which left the infield dirt.
MU promptly answered with speed. A pair of infield singles from Ulrich and Erica Holt set up Sydney Bickel's RBI sacrifice fly. With the Fairfield shortstop ranging to shallow left field to make the catch, Ulrich was able to race home and beat the throw.
The Herd broke the game open in the 6th with hits from Camryn Michallas, Darnley, and a two-run home run to left by Reagan Glanz. The graduate transfer - who had three home runs at Francis Marion University in 2023 - had her first with the Herd Friday.
Rice finished out the game fielding a grounder to herself to seal the complete-game performance.
Second Game: Marshall 6, Longwood 3 (8-innings)
The Herd rallied late with a pair of runs in the 6th to tie the game. After a Michallas walk and a Darnley opposite-field double, it was Marshall's 2nd baseman who delivered the tying-knock. On the eighth-pitch of the at-bat, Brooklyn Ulrich laced a ground ball past the diving shortstop to bring in both runs and even the scoring.
The run support came in Feringa's five-strikeout outing, a new career-high for the junior. The Glendale, Arizona native pitched through the 7th to send the game into extras.
There, with a ghost-runner on second and following an Ulrich single and a Kasia Parks walk, it was Glanz who scored the go-ahead run on the passed ball. Bickel and Lucas would each produce RBIs to pad to the Herd lead in extras. Bickel would later score on a delayed steal of home.
Feringa finished the game out, allowing just one unearned run from the ghost runner to seal the doubleheader sweep.
UP NEXT
Marshall faces Longwood again at 10 a.m. Saturday. The Herd then faces the hosts, East Carolina to follow.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Rice, Savannah (2-2)
L: Bridgman, Allie (0-1)
Batting:
HR: McGonigle, Quinn 1
RBI: McGonigle, Quinn 1
SH: Forbes, Megan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McGonigle, Quinn 1
HBP: Sylvestre, Morgan 1 ; Paravati, Anna 1 ; Bridgman, Allie 1
Batting:
2B: Darnley, Abby 1
HR: Glanz, Reagan 1
RBI: Bickel, Sydney 1 ; Darnley, Abby 2 ; Glanz, Reagan 2 ; Parks, Kasia 1
SF: Bickel, Sydney 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bickel, Sydney 1 ; Gerlach, Bella 1 ; Michallas, Camryn 1 ; Darnley, Abby 1 ; Glanz, Reagan 1 ; Ulrich, Brooklyn 2
SB: Bickel, Sydney 2 ; Ulrich, Brooklyn 1
CS: Darnley, Abby 1
