Marshall softball stays perfect in Charlotte

By Marshall Sports,

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Marshall Softball continued its winning ways in the Queen City on Saturday, earning another two wins, including a 7-6 thriller over host Charlotte in the nightcap, to move to 4-0 on the weekend at Charlotte’s Sue M. Daughtridge Stadium.

“It was definitely a key emphasis today – every game matters so do your job when your name is called: be confident and go up and do it,” Marshall head coach Morgan Zerkle said. “They had a lot of focus today and a lot of want to beat these teams and prove that maybe we were the best mid-major here.”

For Marshall (9-7), Bella Gerlach and Ava Blake each had home runs while Jules King stymied the offense for Charlotte, who is receiving votes in the latest NCAA Division I Softball poll.

In the end, the Herd earned its second win over the 49ers in as many days by getting a complete performance to run its winning streak to four games.

Marshall looks to finish the weekend 5-0 when it meets Boston at 10 a.m. on Sunday.

Here’s a look at the recaps for both contests:

Game 2
Marshall 7, Charlotte 6

Marshall scored five runs in its final three at-bats and King shut down a Charlotte rally in the seventh inning as the Herd earned the win in an entertaining nightcap against the host 49ers.

The Herd got runs in the top of the seventh on Paige Simpson’s RBI hit-by-pitch and Tia Titi’s pinch-hit sacrifice fly to increase the lead to 7-3.

Charlotte got a pinch-hit home run and a triple down the left-field line to move within one, but King induced a flyout in foul ground in left field to cap the day’s sweep.

King’s performance in the circle was a gritty one as she fended off several rally attempts from Charlotte after coming in to relieve Maddie Beal.

King provided the game’s momentum swing in the bottom of the fifth when she escaped a jam unscathed in which Charlotte had runners on second and third with no outs.

After Diamond Leslie’s shoestring catch in center field produced the first out and held the runner at third, King got back-to-back strikeouts to fire up the Herd dugout.

That proved crucial in the 3-all tie as the Herd turned it into offense instantly. With Sydney Turner at first, Bella Gerlach smashed a ball over the left-field wall to give the Herd a 5-3 lead.

Charlotte again threatened in the bottom of the sixth with two runners on and no outs, but King proved stronger in the situation, mowing down the heart of Charlotte’s order with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to end the frame.  

The 49ers took a 3-2 lead into the fifth inning after a single and an error plate two runs in the third, but Blake hit her third home run of the weekend to knot the game and set up the wild finish.

Gerlach started the scoring in the first inning, leading off the game with a walk and scoring on a wild pitch.

After Charlotte knotted the game on an error in the bottom of the first, Marshall re-took the lead at 2-1 when consecutive walks to Leslie and Haleigh Adkins forced in Chandler Hoskins.

Game 1
Marshall 6, Boston 1

Diamond Leslie crushed a three-run home run to left field in the third inning and Haleigh Adkins added a solo home run in the sixth inning as the Herd offense kept things rolling in a 6-1 win over Boston.

The two home runs were part of an 11-hit performance for the Herd, who also got four stolen bases – two by Paige Simpson – in the strong offensive outing.

Sydney Turner notched a pair of hits and a stolen base while Abby Darnley added two hits and an RBI and Ava Blake laced an RBI double to score Chandler Hoskins with the game’s first run.

Paige Maynard went unscathed through the first three frames without allowing a baserunner as she forced the Terriers into several groundouts that allowed the defense to work behind her.

Maynard went five innings and allowed one run on six hits while getting several big defensive plays behind her that kept Boston from cutting into the Herd advantage.

Jules King came in with two runners on and no outs in the sixth and did not allow a ball out of the infield to get out of the jam.

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—HerdZone.com—