Softball Attempts to Clinch MAC Title Versus the Bobcats

4/25/2003

With speed and focus the entire Marshall squad has worked to bring its quest for a MAC championship within grasp.

The Marshall University softball team will look to complete the quest for its first ever Mid-American Conference championship this weekend. The Herd (37-12, 17-4 MAC) needs to take two out of three from the visiting Bobcats of Ohio University to clinch the overall Mid-American Conference championship. The two teams will face-off at 1:00 p.m. in a double-header on Saturday and again at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday for a single game.

Ohio (8-25-1, 2-15-1 MAC) comes into the match-up in last place in the MAC East division. The Bobcats however, have long since been a thorn in the side of the Herd, ending Marshall’s season and knocking the Herd out of tournament contention in 2001 and 2002. OU will bring a powerful offensive attack to Dot Hicks Field as they have hit 29 home runs and sport a .397 slugging percentage. The Bobcats clean-up hitter Erin Chapman is second only to MU’s Amanda Williams (Powder Springs, Ga.) in the MAC, hitting .413 on the season. OU sophomore Jenny Tisevich has been hot of late, including blasting her seventh homer and helping the Bobcats to a sweep of Dayton earlier this week.

The Thundering Herd however is ranked as having the 24th best offense in the country and looks to be up for the challenge. Marshall’s 4.7 runs per game also puts them in the top 20 in the nation. Matched with OU’s 4.91 ERA on the mound, the Herd will be looking for its potent offense to explode on the Bobcats.

Marshall has also used a solid defense to help the team to its record breaking season. The team’s .966 fielding percentage is the best of any Herd squad. MU’s four hurlers have also been impressive, combining for a 2.09 team ERA. Sophomore Randi Nielson (Tucson, Ariz.) has racked up 20 of MU’s wins with a 1.12 ERA, ranking her among the country’s best.

With 37 wins overall on the season, the 2003 squad needs two more wins to become the winningest team in the history of the program. The team has already broken the program’s stolen base (98), RBI (199) and home run (24) records and is looking to break many more including hits, runs, winning percentage and batting average. Marshall is also threatening to break several Mid-American Conference team records, including batting average. The Herd is currently hitting .295 as a team and the MAC’s best is only .308.

Amanda Williams continues to lead the MAC and is no less than 18th in the country in batting average. The freshman needs only one hit to tie the Herd’s single season hits record that was set in 1996 when Carrie Hinkle had 69. Amanda Williams also has her eye on a few MAC records. Her .442 batting average is a mere five points below the all-time conference best set in 1991 by Toledo’s Leigh Ross-Shaw. De’Shaun Drake (Spring Valley, Calif.) needs to knock in 10 more on top of her already 47 runs batted in to earn the conference’s single season RBI crown. Sierra Davenport (Tucson, Ariz.) holds her third place national ranking in the stolen base department after breaking MU’s single season and career records, swiping 36 so far on the year.

To show appreciation for its supporters, Marshall will be celebrating Little Sis Day on Saturday. All Marshall softball home games are played at Dot Hicks Field on the campus of Marshall University and admission is free.



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