Softball MAC Tournament Set; Marshall Heads to Akron as Number One Seed

5/6/2003

The Marshall University softball team will head to Akron, Ohio on Wednesday to prepare for the Mid-American Conference Tournament. The number one seeded Herd received a first round bye and will take the field on Thursday, May 8, at 7:30 p.m. in second round action. Herd fans can listen to all of Marshall’s MAC tournament games live on the web at: http://windowsmedia.marshall.edu/wmul.

“I think we are well rested and now with exams completed we can focus our attention on the field,” head coach Shonda Stanton said. “We are playing the winner of two quality teams. We need to come out ready to play and do the things we’ve done all year. Our girls need to take it as one more weekend and try and win the series.”

Marshall will face off against the winner of the first round contest between the number four seeded Huskies of Northern Illinois University and the number five seeded Falcons of Bowling Green State University. The Herd has faced both teams already this season and is an even 2-2 against them.

Bowling Green is 25-24-1 overall on the season an is 15-9 in conference play. The Herd fell to the Falcons, 4-0 in February at the New Mexico State Classic. Gina Rango, Libby Voshell and Jennifer Kernahan are all batting over .300, helping to raise the Falcons team average to .265. Liz Vrabel has accumulated 16 of BGSU’s wins on the mound while posting a 1.13 earned run average.

The Huskies of Northern Illinois (23-19-1, 13-7-1 MAC) secured the four seed by taking two-out-of-three from Central Michigan University last weekend. Marshall beat the Huskies twice in a three-game series April 18th and 19th. MU dropped game one of the series, 1-3, but came back to win the final two against NIU, 5-3 and 1-0. Lisa Matke sports a .361 batting average to lead her offensive minded team. NIU is hitting .271 and has 23 home runs this season.

Western Michigan University (27-22, 17-7 MAC) has secured the number two seed and is slated opposite the Herd. The reigning MAC champion Central Michigan Chippewas (25-16, 14-7 MAC) are the three seed this season and will face the number six seeded RedHawks of Miami University (23-20, 15-9 MAC) in game one of the tournament set to begin at 11:00 a.m. on May 8th.

Marshall’s 2003 squad has posted record 40-15 overall record and is 20-4 in MAC play on the year. The Herd has also received votes in the NFCA/ESPN top 25 poll for the first time in the school’s history. Stanton and her squad will try to continue to set Herd history as the MAC tourney winner is guaranteed a bid to the NCAA tournament.

All contests will be played at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio. Directions and tournament information can be found at: http://mac-sports.ocsn.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/softballchamp.html.