COLUMN
Let’s face it. Up until a few days ago there hadn’t been much to cheer about during Marshall’s 2012-13 athletic year.
Football underachieved and missed the postseason. The experts told us Marshall basketball was going to be the real deal and knock Memphis from its perch atop Conference USA, but alas, Marshall struggled its way to 13 wins and purged the roster. Women’s basketball spent the season adjusting to new coach Matt Daniel.
The performance of Aaron Blair on the mound for The Herd’s baseball team has been a bright spot, but Marshall once again finds itself in the bottom half of C-USA as it plays yet another season of all road games.
However, things started looking up when Shonda Stanton’s softball team took the field Saturday in Tulsa, Okla., to play for the conference tournament title. Herd fans had been waiting to cheer for another champion, and got their wish.
Marshall knocked off Houston 3-1 and earned a spot in the NCAA tournament, a first in the program’s history. In fact, not since the women’s basketball team in 1997 has a Marshall squad made it to any NCAA postseason tournament.
“It was about second chances,” said Stanton. “We got a second chance at East Carolina and UAB and now we’ll get a second chance against UK.”
Marshall will face No. 12 Kentucky Friday night in the opening round of the NCAA regional. The Herd traveled to Lexington earlier this season and had the Wildcats on the ropes, leading 3-1 heading into the final inning before the wheels spun off and Marshall fell 4-3.
“To have any familiarity is bonus,” elaborated Stanton. “That’s going to help our girls. We’ll still be nervous and there’ll still be pregame jitters but hopefully once the first pitch is thrown it will just be another game.”
Not to put any more pressure on The Herd softball team, but Friday night won’t be just another game. It will mark a milestone in the program’s history and gives Herd fans a reason to be stand up and cheer. Herd fans by nature are a pessimistic bunch. Too many times they’ve seen teams get to the brink of greatness only to be let down (the 1987, 1991, 1995, 2010 football seasons for examples).
Marshall not only has a chance to make history by appearing in the tournament, it is very capable of winning games and advancing. Anything is possible when ace Andi Williamson, who has 32 wins and is second in the nation in strikeouts, toes the rubber.
Softball wasn’t the only highlight of the week.
Vanessa Jules won the high jump on Sunday to help the Marshall track and field team to a best-ever fifth-place finish at the Conference USA track and field championships.
On Wednesday, Marshall baseball clinched the season series with WVU by battling back from two runs down late in the ballgame. Beating WVU at anything is always something to get excited about (even if the game was inconvenient for WVU, it didn’t bring five regulars and Marshall used a relief pitcher who made a weekend start on April 5th).
It’s been a long year of disappointment and speculation the chances for future success for Herd fans. Now, the softball team has a chance to make more history and baseball can play its way into the C-USA tournament.
Now, that’s something to get excited about.