RELEASE
TULSA, Okla. – The Thundering Herd will play in its second straight Conference USA tournamentc championship game today after clipping the top-seeded UAB Blazers 1-0 on Friday.
Senior Ashley Gue (2-for-2) was the only player to touch home plate, crossing the dish on a RBI-double from teammate and senior Jazmine Valle (1-for-3). Defending the one-run lead in the circle was senior Andi Williamson, who earned her 31st win. Williamson ended the contest with six strikeouts and her seventh shutout victory.
“That’s the best I’ve seen Andi all year,” said head coach Shonda Stanton. “She’s got 31 wins on the season. She is so strong and so dominant and so on. UAB is a heck of a ball club. Marla has done a phenomenal job with that program. Hats off to them for winning the regular season. It’s a great group of girls.”
The Herd took the lead after freshman Kaelynn Greene (2-for-3) reached on an infield single and took second on an errant pickoff attemptt. Gue bunt-singled to make it a first-and-third situation. In a double steal effort, Greene was thrown out at the plate, but Gue took third base on the play. Valle hit a shot into the left-center gap to bring Gue home and give the Herd a 1-0 advantage.
In the next two innings, Williamson gave up no hits and the only runners that touched base reached on a walk or error and were left stranded. The Herd connected for three hits between the two innings, but was unable to cross the dish to extend the lead.
The Blazers threatened in the sixth with another pair of singles to lead off the bottom half of the inning, but two foul pop ups to the catcher and Williamson’s fifth strikeout of the game shut the inning down.
Marshall will face Houston on Saturday at noon Eastern on CBS Sports Network. It will be the second time the two teams faceoff in postseason.
WMUL-FM will carry the game live on 88.1 FM in the tri-state area or you can listen online at marshall.edu/wmul.