April 14, 2008

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall Thundering Herd softball team will take a midweek break from conference action to travel to Morehead, Ky., for a doubleheader showdown against the Eagles, beginning at 2 p.m. (ET) at the University Softball Field.

Marshall (19-25) heads into Tuesday's contest fresh off its first home series victory of the season. The Herd defeated the Blazers, 6-4 in 10 innings in the series opener, but dropped the second game when it was shutout, 3-0. During the rubber match, the Herd out-hit the Blazers, 10-3, while enforcing the mercy-rule, 11-0, to claim its fourth conference series of the season.

Prior to its meeting with UAB, the Herd split a midweek twinbill with Ohio. The Bobcats dropped game one, 8-5, before clinging to a 3-2 series finale victory.

The Eagles (26-8) started the season with a 12-0 record before being swept by in-state rival Kentucky, March 12. During last week action, MSU defeated Eastern Kentucky 4-1 and took 2-of-3 against Jacksonville State in conference action.

The Herd's All-American catcher Rachel Folden paved the way last week going 5-for-9 during the five contest week with 11 walks. She finished with three home runs, two against Ohio, and recorded her first career triple. She racked up four RBIs, while scoring six times herself. She had an on-base percentage of .800 and was awarded for her efforts as the C-USA Co-Hitter of the Week. It marks the third time this season she garnered the weekly award.

Rachael Sofie followed with a 7-for-16 performance with two doubles and four RBIs during last week's action. She recorded her first triple of the season, third of her career, against UAB and scored three runs during the five games. She now has a season average of .390 with 21 total RBIs and seven doubles.

Samantha Rodriguez hit a grand slam in the 8-5 victory over Ohio to lead Marshall with six RBIs increasing her season total to 32. She hit two home runs during the five-game homestand, which places her second on the team with nine.

Freshman Melanie Stoehr delivered for the Herd in the 10th inning against UAB in the series opener with a two-run walkoff home run. It was the third time the Tacoma, Wash., native homered this season, which increased her RBI total to 15.

In the circle for the Herd was sophomore ace Caitlyn Jackson. She started three games and finished with a 2-0 record with a 1.62 ERA, lowering her season average to 3.99.

The Eagles are led by left fielder Kari Quinn's batting average of .346 and seven home runs. She's second on the team with 21 RBIs, three away from the team leader, third baseman Rebecca Butler. Butler has a team-high 10 doubles and trails Quinn with a .340 average.

Alex Gjevre has been MSU's ace with a 13-3 record and an ERA at 0.78. She's pitched 116.1 innings surrendering 13 earned runs with 94 strikeouts. Quinn has seen the action in the circle as well, with a 9-3 victory and a 1.21 ERA.

The Herd holds a 18-6 advantage over the Eagles in the all-time series.