Topic: HERDZONE: No. 7 Marshall Receives C-USA Tournament Runner-Up

[biggreenarms]

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Marshall softball (29-31) fell to No. 1 Tulsa (50-7) in its third consecutive appearance in the Conference USA Championship game. The Thundering Herd was unable to get a run across the board, falling 8-0 to the Golden Hurricane in six innings.

“Well, when you look at today, it does not change anything that this group has accomplished,” coach Shonda Stanton said. “What an incredible team.”

Marshall has earned the Conference USA Tournament Runner Up three times, facing Tulsa each time (2006, 2012, 2014).

The Herd is one of two No. 7 seeds to ever make an appearance in the C-USA Championship game. The last school to do so was UTEP in 2009 as the host school.

Marshall had four players recognized as part of the C-USA All-Tournament Team.

Shaelynn Braxton (Woodbridge, Va.) was one of four infielders recognized. Kaelynn Greene (Eastvale, Calif.) was one of three outfielders acknowledged. Morgan Zerkle (Milton, W.Va.) earned the sole honor of utility player, and Jordan Dixon (Edmond, Okla.) was one of two pitchers awarded a trophy.

After knocking out No. 2 UAB and No. 6 ECU to make it to the title game, the Herd will travel back from Boca Raton, Fla. and arrive in Huntington, W.Va. Sunday morning.

Tulsa 8, Marshall
The Golden Hurricane took the first lead of the game with a two-out base hit to score a runner from third, who reached on a one-out double into left field, in the bottom of the first inning, 1-0.

With bases loaded and two outs, freshman Jordan Dixon (Edmond, Okla.) pitched her way out of the jam, sending Tulsa back to the dugout swinging.

After two scoreless innings, Tulsa struck again in the bottom of the fourth. The Golden Hurricane scored five runs off of three single base hits, one extra base hit and two free bases to take a 6-0 lead over Marshall.

Neither team found a way to score in the fifth inning, but the bottom of the sixth proved to be detrimental for the Herd.

With two runners on and in scoring position, back-to-back wild pitches allowed the runners to cross the plate and put an end to the championship game in run-rule fashion.

Dixon (20-21) was credited with the loss, pitching a total of 3.2 innings. The final 1.2 innings for the Herd featured freshman Lindsey Fadnek (Coalfield, Tenn.) in the circle. Marshall was outhit 8-to-2 and committed one error in the shutout ball game.

http://www.herdzone.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/051014aaa.html