April 22, 2007

Box Score

HUNTINGTON - Aided by a UCF loss earlier in the afternoon, the Marshall Thundering Herd moved into fifth place in the Conference USA standings after a 3-1 win over the Memphis Tigers Sunday.

The win was significant for Marshall (28-22, 10-11 C-USA) as the Herd recorded its first C-USA series sweep of the season, while Memphis (27-21, 4-12 C-USA) suffered its second conference series sweep in its last three weekends.

With the sweep, the Herd ran its season-long winning streak to six games. The six-game win streak is Marshall's longest in nearly three seasons as the Herd won seven in a row during the 2005 campaign.

Senior southpaw Abigail Harter (Monmouth, Ore./Santiam Christian) earned the victory, snapping a personal five-game losing streak. Harter (12-13) allowed one run on three hits with two strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.

After 48 games without a team save, freshman Caitlyn Jackson (Ontario, Calif./Pomona Catholic) notched the Herd's second save in two games. Jackson scattered four hits in 2 1/3 innings of relief.

Memphis' Jenna Kubesch (17-9) was dealt her second straight complete-game defeat, allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings. Kubesch failed to strike out the Marshall side.

Samantha Rodriguez (Oakley, Calif./Freedom) continued her torrid offensive pace, going 2-for-2 with a double and a two-run home run. Jackson went 2-for-3, while Rachael Sofie (Everett, Wash./Cascade) went 1-for-3 with an inside-the-park home run.

Marshall jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning when Rodriguez delivered a two-run home run over the left field fence.

The Herd's two-run lead would not be threatened until the fifth inning. After Memphis ended Harter's early bid for a no-hitter in the fourth inning, the Tigers began to rattle the starter in the fifth.

Leigh Rowan led off the fifth inning with a solo home run to left field, cutting the Marshall lead in half, 2-1. Two batters later, Harter was lifted in favor of Jackson. After the freshman gave up a single, she retired the next two batters to escape any further damage.

Marshall regained the run back in the sixth inning. With two outs, Sofie laced a ball to centerfield past a diving Lindsey Pridgen. Sofie would eventually score on the inside-the-park home run - the first home run of her career - to give the Herd a 3-1 lead.

In the seventh inning, Jackson would settle in as the Tigers threatened to orchestrate a rally. Rowan reached on a lead-off infield single and was later the inning's first out after Lindsay Kelso reached on a fielder's choice.

Tori Gross then singled to centerfield, putting runners at first and second. However, Jackson forced Leila Dolfo to fly out to left field and Leandra Hines to ground out, ending the game and preserving the 3-1 win.

The Marshall Thundering Herd will close out its 2007 home schedule Saturday, April 28, when it welcomes the Georgetown Hoyas to Dot Hicks Field for a 1 p.m. (EST) doubleheader.

Marshall 3, Memphis 1 (04/22/07 at Huntington, W.Va.)
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Memphis............. 000 010 0 -  1  7  1      (27-21, 4-12 C-USA)
Marshall............ 200 001 X -  3  7  2      (28-22, 10-11 C-USA)
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Pitchers: Memphis - KUBESCH, J.. Marshall - Harter, Abigail; JACKSON, Caitlyn(5).
Win-HARTER, Abigail(12-13)  Save-JACKSON, Caitlyn(1)  Loss-KUBESCH, J.(17-9)  T-1:34  A-129
HR MEMPHIS - ROWAN, L. (1).
HR MARSHALL - Rodriguez, Samantha (9); Sofie, Rachael (1).