May 2, 2008

Game Notes Against Georgetown

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Marshall Thundering Herd softball team will close out the 2008 regular-season when it travels to Washington, D.C., for a nonconference doubleheader, Saturday, May 3 at 1 p.m. (ET) at Guy Mason Field.

The Herd (24-28, 11-11 C-USA) and Hoyas (21-33) will meet for a second-consecutive season as Marshall swept the Hoyas in last year's nonconference doubleheader. Marshall out-scored Georgetown by a combined total 14-5.

Marshall is led by its 2008 Lowe's Senior Class Finalist, Rachel Folden who has a .433 batting average with 17 home runs, 20 doubles and 53 runs scored. She is tied for 16th-nationally on the NCAA all-time home runs list with 58 and ranks second all-time in conference in home runs. Her .920 slugging percentage ranks second nationally.

Junior Rachael Sofie follows Folden's batting average with a .358 average and two home runs. The Everett, Wash., native has two home runs, a triple and eight doubles in her third year at Marshall.

Pitcher Autumn Mitchell continues to lead the Herd inside the pitching circle with a 2.65 ERA. With a 9-5 record in 32 appearances, Mitchell has tossed 87.1 innings hurling a team-high 89 strikeouts. Now used as a starter, Mitchell is still the primary reliever with an ERA of 1.91 during relief appearances.

The Herd enters Saturday's contest after going 1-2 during last week's action against its final 2008 conference foe, Tulsa. Marshall and the Golden Hurricane held a three-game series at Dot Hicks Field with Marshall claiming the opener, before dropping the final two games of the series.

During the first game, the Herd, backed by a lead off home run from three-time All-American catcher Rachel Folden, (her fifth leadoff home run) took an early 1-0 lead before Tulsa tied the game in the top half of the fourth inning. Marshall answered with a two-run home run from freshman first baseman Melanie Stoehr, her fourth of the season, which proved to be the game-winning blast of the contest.

Tulsa claimed the following two games to capture the conference series and moved into third place in the conference standings. During game two, the Golden Hurricane jumped to a 4-0 lead, but the Herd would cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the fifth frame when senior Samantha Rodriguez cracked a two-run homer. Marshall would tack on one more run in the bottom of the sixth inning after Sofie began the frame with a double, which she would later score on from a Joscelyn Bitner RBI-single.

The third game proved to be a pitcher's duel as neither team could get any offense going early. The Golden Hurricane broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning with a run after a pair of singles set up Lindsey Tower's sacrifice fly, scoring Vanessa Vice. Tulsa added another run in the fifth inning when Lauren Lindsay hit a solo home run to increase its lead to 2-0.

Marshall got on the board in the sixth inning when it had the bases loaded with one-out. The Herd was only able to get one run before closing out the inning, which resulted in the 2-1 loss.

In only its third year of existence, the Hoyas are enjoying its best season to-date with a program record, 21 wins. Georgetown is led by sophomore shortstop Samantha Peters and her .382 batting average. With 16 home runs, four doubles an four triples, Peters remains the primary offensive threat for Georgetown. Fellow sophomore Demetria Cipriano trails with a .331 average with doubles and four home runs.

Georgetown swept Coppin State by a total of 32-0 in a doubleheader, Tuesday. The Hoyas claimed game one, 12-0 before continuing to pound the Eagles 20-0 in the finale.

GameTracker will be provided for both games against Georgetown, but live streaming of the game will not be broadcasted.