Doubling down

The Marshall University softball team won a pair of games against Ohio University on Tuesday at Dot Hicks Field in Huntington.

The Herd had a comfortable 4-1 victory in the first game, but needed to rally for a 7-6 win in the second.

Senior pitcher Katie Murphree was the starting pitcher in the first game, allowing one run and seven hits over 7 innings of work. She picked up the win in the second game as well, after entering in a relief appearance and pitched four innings for the team.

Marshall (20-22) entered the set of games on a four-game losing streak and junior catcher Melanie Stoehr said it was great to pick up a couple of wins.

"It feels great," Stoehr said. "It has been a while since we won two games in one day so it is something the team really wanted. Things have really gotten busy lately with both softball and school, so it was encouraging for the team to get the two wins."

The second game didn't appear as if it was going to be a win for the Herd after Ohio (9-24) took a 5-0 lead going into the bottom of the second inning. Marshall responded with three runs in the second inning, with two outs, and two runs in the third to tie the game.

Senior pitcher Caitlyn Jackson started the second game for the Herd and was hit hard in her three innings, allowing six runs and eight hits. After she allowed her sixth run she was replaced by Murphree, who came in and tried to hold the Bobcats to give her team a chance to take the lead.

"In that situation, I come in and just try to get three up and three down," Murphree said. "I wanted to pick up the energy in the game, and I knew that getting quick outs and giving our offense a chance would get the team's energy going."

Murphree's performance seemed to get the team going, as Marshall scored a run in both of the last two innings to take the one-run lead and seal the victory. Freshman third-baseman Jazmine Valle had possibly the biggest hit of the day, a solo home run off the left-field foul pole that just barely stayed in play and tied the game at 6-6 in the fifth inning.

Marshall score the winning run in the bottom of the sixth, as Taylor Thompson scored on an error after a hot shot to third from Marcena Bertoldo was bobbled and ultimately thrown away. Murphree came in and pitched a 1-2-3 7th inning for her second win of the day.

When asked how it feels to pitch a whole game, and then come in and pick up the win in a second game in one day, Murphree said it is all about confidence.

"For me it depends on the day," Murphree said. "You have to have confidence in yourself and confidence in your teammates to pick you up. I just tried to stay warm and stay ready if the situation came up that my team needed me. I went out there with confidence and performed."

Marshall returns to action at Dot Hicks Field on Wednesday for a doubleheader against Wright State University starting at 2 p.m.

Troy Hemingway can be contacted at hemingway@marshall.edu.