Softball Heads to Buffalo for Final Regular Season Road Series

4/29/2004

Amanda Williams leads the MAC in RBIs (40), doubles (14) and triples (5). (Photo by Matt Riley)

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Marshall University softball team will encounter the Buffalo Bulls in their final road series of the Mid-American Conference regular season this weekend at the UB Softball Stadium.

Marshall (28-24, 9-9) sits on the cusp of making the tournament after a 1-2 performance at Akron last weekend. The Herd owns the seven spot in the MAC overall standings, one slot shy of a play-off bid, two games behind Bowling Green and Miami (Ohio). The Falcons and the RedHawks are each 11-7 in league play and face off with Kent State and Eastern Michigan in three-game ventures this weekend, respectively.

Despite dropping ten of its last 14, MU is still hitting a conference-best .269. Herd players dominate a slew of individual statistical leader boards. Sierra Davenport (Tucson, Ariz.) is hitting a conference-pacing .396 with 65 hits and 39 stolen bases, Amanda Williams (Powder Springs, Ga.) possesses the lead in RBIs (40), doubles (14) and triples (5), while Leigh Wintter (Acworth, Ga.) has a league-leading nine home runs in 2004.

Buffalo (19-21, 6-8) enters the weekend fifth in the East Division. The Bulls picked up two wins against St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, 7-4, 5-1, and are currently the top defensive squad in the league, boasting a .964 fielding average. Buffalo has yet to be swept by a MAC team this season, picking up two wins against Akron and one apiece versus Miami (Ohio), Bowling Green, Ohio and Western Michigan. UB is led by four-year veteran Breanne Nasti, who is hitting .321 with eight home runs, 27 RBIs and 36 hits this season. Stacey Evans has seen the most action on the Bull mound and brings a 1.37 ERA along with a 10-9 record into the series with MU.

Marshall controls the all-time series with an 8-1 advantage, but the Bulls picked up the last meeting, 3-0, in Huntington on March 23, 2003.

The series at Buffalo this weekend begins with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday and finishes up with a one-game stint on Sunday with a first-pitch time of 1 p.m. as well.