Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Purdue
Herd Softball Rallies Past Boilermakers on Home Opening Day
3/1/2024 9:37:00 PM | Softball
Bella Gerlach hits two home runs in doubleheader split
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — After three weeks on the road, the Thundering Herd softball team played in front of its fans at Dot Hicks Field Friday afternoon. The Herd opened the day with a come-from-behind win over Purdue, 7-4 before falling to the Butler Bulldogs by a one-run margin.
All seven of Marshall's runs came with two outs in the opener. The Herd is now 3-2 against Big Ten teams in 2024.
"I think our energy kind of wavered today, it matched the weather," Coach Morgan Zerkle said. "Hopefully we come out tomorrow and prove that it was not the Herd we are capable of playing as. First home game of the season, I thought we played a little tight at times, everyone is kind of learning who needs to step up. We will definitely be better tomorrow and I think the team knows that."
First Game: Marshall 7, Purdue 4
Marshall rallied from down two runs twice in the home opener. The rally earned Kaleea Washington's third win in the circle in relief.
All three go-ahead runs came in the 4th after two were out and no on. A Kasia Parks single followed by a Sydney Bickel triple and a Rielly Lucas bloop single tied the game for the Herd. Bella Gerlach's first RBI of the day in the form of a double into the opposite-field gap put Coach Zerkle's side up 5-4.
Combined with a Lucas sacrifice fly in the 6th, Gerlach hit her first of two long balls to left on the train tracks to score the Herd's fifth unanswered.
Washington held the Boilermakers to a single hit across four innings in relief of Bub Feringa. The freshman escaped a bases-loaded jam in the 5th and two runners in scoring position in the 6th to seal the three-run win.
Second Game: Butler 3, Marshall 2
The Herd could not overcome the early hole against Butler's ace in game two Friday. BU's Katie Petran is 6-0 on the season for the Bulldogs who went up 2-0 after the top of the 1st.
Marshall got one back in the bottom half following a wild pitch, but would strand the bases loaded. It was the first of nine total stranded on base for the Herd.
Gerlach's second home run to the tracks in the 5th pulled the Herd to within a run, who could not get any closer.
UP NEXT
Marshall will get its rematch with Butler to open Saturday at 4 p.m. as game three of the day for the Thundering Herd Invitational. MU will then go under the lights for the first time at Dot Hicks Field against Radford to follow.
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