HUNTINGTON, W. Va. – Despite taking an early lead after a
Grace Barrett RBI single in the top of the first inning, Marshall responded with five in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good and ran away with a 12-4 run-rule victory over the App State softball team on Friday. Marshall scored a run in every inning and hit five home runs to win the middle game in six innings.
App State (23-12, 4-7 SBC) saw a solo home run from
Leah Gore leave the yard in the fourth and a two-RBI double from
Taylor Schafer in the fifth that closed the gap down to four, but the Thundering Herd (27-10, 9-2 SBC) pulled the right strings and answered with two in the fifth and two in the sixth. App State never got closer than four after Marshall took its first-inning lead.
How it Happened
As it did yesterday, the Mountaineers scored the game's first run, as
Makayla McClain scorched a lead-off double into left field and Barrett drove her home with an RBI single up the middle. Marshall didn't waste any time, using an RBI single and a two-out grand slam to take a 5-1 lead after one full inning.
Madison Fletcher and
Julia Girk reached base in the second inning, but the Herd kept the Mountaineers off the board with a lineout. Marshall hit another home run in the second to go ahead by five before some small ball extended its lead to five in the third inning.
App State responded to Marshall's strong start with a Gore moonshot into left field for her fifth home run of the year. But as they did all game, the Herd plated a run in retaliation to maintain their five-run lead after the fourth inning. App State plated two runs and stole some momentum with a two-run double by Schafer to score Girk and Barrett in the top of the fifth. This hit marked Schafer's 10th multi-RBI game of her freshman season.
Seeing their lead creep down to just four runs, Marshall shot back ahead by six with the help of a solo home run and a sacrifice fly. After a clean inning on defense, back-to-back homers from Marshall's fourth and fifth hitters in the sixth frame ended the game in walk-off fashion to give the Herd the series.
Friday Notes
Home runs
App: Gore (5)
MAR: Leslie (8), Hoskins (6), Darnley (3), Gerlach (12), Titi (5)
WP: Maddie Veal (8-2): 6 IP, 6 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks. 4 strikeouts
SV: N/A
LP:
Camryn Fisher (13-6): 5 IP, 14 hits, 12 runs (11 earned runs), 3 walks, 4 strikeouts
Up Next
App State will look to salvage a win against Marshall on Saturday in the series finale at Dot Hicks Field. Saturday's game time was moved up to 11 a.m. on Thursday, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
