Game 2

Sierra Davenport takes a pitch for a ball in Marshall's victory over Eastern Michigan. She later singled and scored a crucial run for the Herd.

HUNTINGTON, W. Va.- The Marshall University softball team split a double-header with Eastern Michigan University at a chilly Dot Hicks Field Saturday. The Herd was narrowly defeated in the first contest, 3-2, however the Herd bounced back to win the second game, 3-1.

Marshall is now 11-19 overall and with a 4-4 record in Mid-American Conference play sits directly in the middle of the conference standings.

“We want to take the momentum from the second game into tomorrow and into the rest of our MAC games,” senior centerfielder Nikki Wilcox said.

“We were relaxed, had fun and worked well together and that’s what we need to do,” senior second baseman Nichole Corrigan said of today’s second contest.

In the first game Wilcox and Corrigan got the Herd going on offense in the bottom of the second inning. Wilcox, a senior from Lake Forest, Calif, doubled off the fence in right field to move into scoring position for the Herd. Corrigan, a senior from Corona, Calif,. came to bat with two outs and laced a single to center scoring Wilcox.

The Eagles came back to score a run in the fourth to tie the game at one. Eastern Michigan scored two more runs to go ahead, 3-1 in the fifth. The Eagles used two hits along with two Marshall errors to score the runs.

MU came right back as Vanessa Clarkson (Moreno Valley, Calif.) doubled to lead off the sixth. Huntington native, Karri Britt reached first on a Eagle error before Carrie Dean (Paradise, Calif.) walked to load the bases. Wilcox was next to the plate and again came through, singling to score Clarkson.

Marshall could not muster another run and fell 3-2. Wilcox led the Herd going 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Corrigan went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

The second contest remained scoreless until Eastern Michigan put a run on the board in the top of the fourth on a pair of singles and an error. However, the Herd was able to buckle down on defense and held EMU scoreless the rest of the way.

Marshall cranked up their bats in the bottom of the inning to tie the score at one after a pair of singles by Corrigan and Sierra Davenport (Tucson, Ariz.). Davenport was able to steal third and then home to put the Herd on the board.

The Herd’s strong senior class continued to get things done in the fifth. Dean and Wilcox both walked before Corrigan doubled to the gap in left-centerfield to score them both. That would prove to be the difference in the game as the Herd held on to win 3-1.

.Sarah Chamberlain (Moses Lake, Wash.) got the win on the mound, as she pitched seven strong innings giving up six hits and striking out four. Corrigan went three-for-four with two RBI.

Marshall returns to action at Dot Hicks Field Sunday, April 7, with a 1:00 p.m. double-header against the University of Toledo.