Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Saturday, April 29
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
2:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
vs
No. 25 Marshall
Softball Hosts No. 25 Marshall For Senior Weekend
4/28/2017 12:00:00 PM | Softball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee softball team hosts No. 25 Marshall in a pivotal conference series this weekend. The Raiders enter the series on a make or break conference record of 5-11, needing wins to stay in the hunt for a C-USA tournament berth. On the other hand, the Thundering Herd is 15-3 in league play and has already clinched a spot in the tournament.
The two sides have met 11 times in the past with Marshall winning 10 of those 11 contests. The lone MT victory came in the 2011 season in a neutral site tournament game in Auburn, Ala. The Raiders won by a score of 3-2. MT has never defeated the Thundering Herd since becoming a member of C-USA.
Middle enters this season's battle in the midst of a five game winning streak, their second of the year. MT has not dropped a game since back on April 14 when the Raiders fell in both ends of a doubleheader at FAU by just one run.
MT's most recent victories came in its midweek contests with Alabama A&M, winning by scores of 1-0 and 2-0.
It was the Raider pitching staff that showed up big time as Cori Jennings and Gretchen Greer had career performances in the circle. Jennings won the first game, picking up her 17th complete game of the season and third shutout. She also struck out a career-high 10. Greer followed suit by going the complete game, her fourth, to get the shutout victory as well. She struck out 13, the most in a single game by the Raiders since 2010.
Offensively, Kirstyn Cuccia hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of eighth in game one and Kaylyn Slatter launched a solo bomb in the second game. Cuccia's homer stands as the Raiders' first at home this season.
Precious Birdsong recorded a couple of hits to push her season batting average up .458, still third in the conference but up to seventh in the nation. She currently leads the team in hits with 54, slugging percentage with .534, on base percentage with .519 and stolen bases with 21. Austyn Whaley continues to lead the Raiders in RBI with 25. Morgan Harris knocked in a run against AAMU and is now up to 15 on the year to go with her .295 average.
Jennings continues to lead the Raiders in the circle, as represented by her most recent performance. She has registered 146.1 innings of work for a 2.10 ERA with a 10-12 record and is just one strikeout shy of 100.
Marshall is led by senior standout Morgan Zerkle. Zerkle was drafted on Monday, April 24 by the National Professional Fastpitch Scrapyard Dawgs out of Texas and prior to that was selected to the 2017 USA Women's National Softball team. She was also tabbed as C-USA Preseason Player of the Year. Her season has lived up to these marks as she leads the conference and is second in the nation in batting average, posting a .476 on the season with 59 hits, ten doubles, five triples, five home runs, 35 RBI and 35 stolen bases.
The Thundering Herd has two other players batting above .400 with Elicia D'Orazio and Taylor McCord both hitting .407. McCord leads the league in RBI with 47 in addition to nine doubles and 11 home runs. D'Orazio leads C-USA in stolen bases with 47, and has been credited with 20 RBI.
Marshall is also very strong in the circle behind senior, Jordan Dixon. Dixon has pitched over 200 innings for the Herd, striking out 235 to put her top in the conference and sixth in the nation. She enters with a 1.78 ERA and a 26-5 record.
The game will be live streamed on C-USA TV and Live Stats will be available here.
The two sides have met 11 times in the past with Marshall winning 10 of those 11 contests. The lone MT victory came in the 2011 season in a neutral site tournament game in Auburn, Ala. The Raiders won by a score of 3-2. MT has never defeated the Thundering Herd since becoming a member of C-USA.
Middle enters this season's battle in the midst of a five game winning streak, their second of the year. MT has not dropped a game since back on April 14 when the Raiders fell in both ends of a doubleheader at FAU by just one run.
MT's most recent victories came in its midweek contests with Alabama A&M, winning by scores of 1-0 and 2-0.
It was the Raider pitching staff that showed up big time as Cori Jennings and Gretchen Greer had career performances in the circle. Jennings won the first game, picking up her 17th complete game of the season and third shutout. She also struck out a career-high 10. Greer followed suit by going the complete game, her fourth, to get the shutout victory as well. She struck out 13, the most in a single game by the Raiders since 2010.
Offensively, Kirstyn Cuccia hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of eighth in game one and Kaylyn Slatter launched a solo bomb in the second game. Cuccia's homer stands as the Raiders' first at home this season.
Precious Birdsong recorded a couple of hits to push her season batting average up .458, still third in the conference but up to seventh in the nation. She currently leads the team in hits with 54, slugging percentage with .534, on base percentage with .519 and stolen bases with 21. Austyn Whaley continues to lead the Raiders in RBI with 25. Morgan Harris knocked in a run against AAMU and is now up to 15 on the year to go with her .295 average.
Jennings continues to lead the Raiders in the circle, as represented by her most recent performance. She has registered 146.1 innings of work for a 2.10 ERA with a 10-12 record and is just one strikeout shy of 100.
Marshall is led by senior standout Morgan Zerkle. Zerkle was drafted on Monday, April 24 by the National Professional Fastpitch Scrapyard Dawgs out of Texas and prior to that was selected to the 2017 USA Women's National Softball team. She was also tabbed as C-USA Preseason Player of the Year. Her season has lived up to these marks as she leads the conference and is second in the nation in batting average, posting a .476 on the season with 59 hits, ten doubles, five triples, five home runs, 35 RBI and 35 stolen bases.
The Thundering Herd has two other players batting above .400 with Elicia D'Orazio and Taylor McCord both hitting .407. McCord leads the league in RBI with 47 in addition to nine doubles and 11 home runs. D'Orazio leads C-USA in stolen bases with 47, and has been credited with 20 RBI.
Marshall is also very strong in the circle behind senior, Jordan Dixon. Dixon has pitched over 200 innings for the Herd, striking out 235 to put her top in the conference and sixth in the nation. She enters with a 1.78 ERA and a 26-5 record.
The game will be live streamed on C-USA TV and Live Stats will be available here.
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
OF/C
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
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