Softball drops a pair at Citrus Classic

RELEASE

ORLANDO, Fla. – Marshall softball (1-6) dropped both of its games in Day 1 of the Citrus Classic in Orlando, Fla. The Thundering Herd suffered losses to No. 17 Georgia (10-0) and Albany (1-0) in a run-rule and an extra-inning international tie breaker.

The Bulldogs shutout the Thundering Herd 17-0 in five innings, and after a well-fought battle, Marshall fell to the Great Danes in 10 innings, 12-11. Freshman Jordan Dixon (Edmond, Okla.) struck out 14 Albany batters for a new career best and slides into second-place tying Andi Williamson, who last pitched 14 K’s against Quinnipiac on Feb. 23, 2013.

Delaware and Fairfield are Marshall’s next two opponents of the tournament. The Herd will take on the Blue Hens at 11 a.m. and the Stags at 1:45 p.m. on Saturday.

Georgia 17, Marshall 0
The Bulldogs took a quick lead over the Herd in the first contest of the day with a leadoff homerun and sacrifice fly, which gave Georgia a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

After keeping the Herd scoreless through two, the nationally ranked opponent scored six runs off of a sacrifice fly, grand slam and a home run to extend its lead to 8-0.

Marshall continued struggling to score, while Georgia connected for nine runs off of four hits to stretch the gap in the third inning to 17-0.

Freshman Lindsey Fadnek (Coalfield, Tenn.) and the Herd kept the Bulldogs scoreless in the fourth inning, but Marshall fell to Georgia after a scoreless top of the fifth.

Three members of the Herd combined for the team’s four hits of the game. Sophomores Shaelynn Braxton (Woodbridge, Va.), who went 2-for-2 with a single and a double, and Alyssa Cook (West Hamlin, W.Va.), who was 1-for-1 with a single, notched three hits. Senior Taylor Winton (Federal Way, Wash.) put up the final hit of the game and was 1-for-2 with a single in the fifth inning.

Both teams committed one error in the game, but Georgia outhit Marshall 13-to-4.

Albany 12, Marshall 11 (10)
With a leadoff single from sophomore Kaelynn Greene (Eastvale, Calif.), the Herd was off to a good start in Game 2. After a stolen base, S. Braxton was hit-by-pitch to put two runners on base with one out threatening Marshall. An advancement on a wild pitch moved the underclassmen to second and third base, before sophomore Katalin Lucas (Agua Dulce, Calif.) hit a two-RBI single. Lucas took advantage of an Albany error and scored on the same play. A sacrifice fly from Winton tallied the Herd’s fourth run of the inning, 4-0.

The Great Danes capitalized on three errors in the bottom of the inning, scoring four runs of their own off of no hits to tie the game.

Another leadoff single and stolen base from Greene (3-for-6) started the second inning, this time freshman Morgan Zerkle (Milton, W.Va.), followed with a single. Greene and Zerkle (3-for-6) scored off of an S. Braxton three-run home run that put Marshall ahead by three, 7-4.

An inning and a half passed with no scoring from either team, before Albany put up an unearned run with the assistance of two Marshall errors, while two outs were on the board, 7-5.

All the bats were silenced through the following two innings.

The Herd was unable to score in the seventh and moved into the bottom of the inning with a two-run lead, which proved not to be enough after a Great Dane two-run home run tied the game at 7 apiece.

From that point on the game was ruled into an international tie-breaker and each inning began with a runner on second base.

The Herd and Great Danes danced back-and-forth for two innings, tying each other in the eighth, 8-8, and ninth, 10-10. But, Albany outscored Marshall with a walk-off, two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th to earn its opening weekend victory.

Marshall ended the game outhitting Albany, 14-to-8, and committed five errors to the Great Danes’ four.





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