Topic: HERDZONE: Herd to Begin C-USA Tournament Action Against UAB

[biggreenarms]

CONFERENCE USA TOURNAMENT
GAME 1: No. 7 MARSHALL (26-30, 13-11 C-USA) VS. No. 2 UAB (31-24, 15-8 C-USA)
Thursday, May 8 | 11 a.m. ET
Boca Raton, Fla. | FIU Softball Field
Twitter | Live Stats and Live Streaming

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Marshall softball (26-30, 13-11 C-USA) has traveled to Boca Raton, Fla. to compete in the 2014 Conference USA Tournament, with hopes of repeating as champions. The Thundering Herd will be the No. 7 seed and will open play against No. 2 UAB (31-24, 15-8 C-USA) Thursday morning. The eight-team, single-elimination tournament runs through Saturday’s championship game.

Live stats and live streaming will be available for each game. Final results can be found on HerdZone.com at the completion of the day. For live updates follow @HerdSB on Twitter.

HAVE YOU HERD?
Marshall is coming off of a three-game sweep against C-USA opponent Louisiana Tech this past weekend. The sweep moved the Herd to a 13-11 conference record and earned the team a berth in the C-USA Tournament.

Senior Savanah Webster (Las Vegas) leads the Herd in conference play with a .431 batting average. She is one of three Marshall players with four home runs against conference opponents, joining sophomores Shaelynn Braxton (Woodbridge, Va.) and Raquel Escareno (Wellington, Colo.). Sophomore Katalin Lucas (Agua Dulce, Calif.) has hit five homers against C-USA foes to lead Marshall.

Braxton leads the Herd with 20 RBI in conference play, followed by Escareno with 18. Braxton and Webster have each hit a team-high six doubles.

In addition to Webster's .431 mark, Marshall has four hitters batting over .300 in conference – sophomore Kaelynn Greene (Eastvale, Calif.) at .369, freshman Morgan Zerkle (Milton, W.Va.) at .314, senior Taylor Winton (Federal Way, Wash.) at .313 and S. Braxton at .309.

Freshman Jordan Dixon (Edmond, Okla.) has an 11-7 record in the circle for Marshall against C-USA talent. She has compiled a 4.16 ERA and recorded 96 strikeouts.

In league play, Marshall has the third highest batting average (.292). S. Braxton holds the top spot in RBI (53) and is tied for No. 2 in long balls (15). Zerkle has the most stolen bases (46), while Greene holds No. 3 in stolen bases (29) and No.4 in batting average (.391). In the circle, Dixon has the most innings pitched (228), ranks second in strikeouts (232) and No. 5 in wins (18).

Nationally in Division I, Zerkle ranks No. 7 in stolen bases. Dixon ranks No. 20 in strikeouts and Braxton is tied for No. 27 in home runs and ranks No. 50 in RBI per game.

MOVING UP IN THE RECORD BOOKS
After going 6-for-11 over the weekend, Greene took the MU single-season record for hits, with 77. She surpassed Amanda Williams, who held the record since 2003 with 75.

Zerkle was 4-for-4 for stolen bases against Tech, pushing her single-season stolen base mark to 46.

With eight strikeouts in the Herd’s last regular-season series, Dixon continues to rank No. 4 in single-season strikeouts with 232. With two wins over the Lady Techsters, she made it into the single-season wins top 10, holding the No. 8 spot.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
The 2014 C-USA Tournament field is composed of four conference newcomers and four conference veterans. Marshall played six of the seven teams this season, compiling a 7-11 record.

No. 1 Tulsa (47-7, 19-4 C-USA)
In the all-time series between the Herd and the Golden Hurricane, Tulsa leads 22-6. This season, the Golden Hurricane swept Marshall (March 15-16) for the second consecutive season.

In the conference tournament field, Tulsa leads Marshall 4-1.The last time the two faced off in a tournament, was in 2012 in the championship game where Tulsa held a one-run advantage to defeat the Herd, 3-2.

No. 2 UAB (31-24, 15-8 C-USA)
UAB leads the all-time series between the Herd and the Blazers with a 15-11 record. The two teams did not meet this season.

In the conference tournament, Marshall has won both contests between the schools. The Herd's last victory came in 2013 with a 1-0 win in the semifinals.

No. 3 FIU (33-19, 15-9 C-USA)
Marshall leads FIU 4-0 in the all-time series between the two schools. The Herd swept the visiting Panthers April 18-19 this season.

The two teams have never met in C-USA Tournament action, as this is FIU's first season in the conference.

No. 4 FAU (33-21, 15-9 C-USA)
Marshall and FAU have met five times in the past, with the Herd holding a slight 3-2 advantage. FAU won two of the three games the two teams played this season.

The 2013 season was FAU's first in C-USA.

No. 5 North Texas (30-21, 14-9 C-USA)
North Texas owns the advantage in the all-time series against Marshall with a 3-1 record. The Mean Green swept the Herd April 12-13 this year.

North Texas was also a C-USA newcomer this year.

No. 6 ECU (27-19, 14-11 C-USA)
The all-time series between Marshall and ECU is knotted at 17 victories apiece. The Herd won the series in 2013 with two victories in Greenville, N.C.

Marshall holds a 2-1 advantage in C-USA Tournament play between the two schools. The Herd earned a first-round victory in the 2013 tournament with a 5-4 win.

No. 8 Charlotte (20-28, 10-13 C-USA)
Marshall holds a 5-4 all-time series lead against Charlotte. The Herd dropped the season series at the 49ers this year.

Charlotte is the fourth C-USA newcomer that advanced to the postseason.

http://www.herdzone.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/050714aaa.html

[HerdnClt]

Herd wins!

[greenanwhite]

Great news!