Softball Takes on Final C-USA Series at Marshall

Florida Atlantic vs. Marshall
Game Details	May 4-5 \| Huntington, W.V. \| Dot Hicks Field
Game Coverage	Live Video Live Stats Radio: WMUL-FM 88.1 Twitter: @fauowlssoftball Instagram: @owls_softball
Florida Atlantic Links	Notes \| News \| Roster \| Schedule
Marshall Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University softball team (20-27, 7-14 C-USA) will travel to Huntington, West Virginia to face Marshall (33-18, 14-7 C-USA) for the final Conference USA series of the 2019 regular season. FAU is fighting for a C-USA Tournament berth, as the Owls currently sit one game behind UTEP and UTSA for one of two wild card spots. The Owls will kick off the series on Saturday for a 1 p.m. doubleheader with play wrapping up on Sunday at 1 p.m. Live stats, live video and radio will be accessible during each of the three games.

Game Notes:

FAU vs. Marshall

Series History:
Series Record: 8-8
The first meeting between these two teams was the first weekend of the 2013 season at the USF Wilson DeMarini Opening Day Tournament in a doubleheader, which went Marshall's way twice (3-1, 2-1). Marshall and FAU would meet the following year in their first C-USA series, where FAU lost in the opening game, 8-5, but bounced back to win the series (9-6, 3-0). FAU has the advantage in series wins, 3-1, despite being swept in 2017 and tying in 2015. Marshall fairs well playing FAU in Huntington, but the Owls need to change that in order to sneak into the conference tournament.

Last Time Out:
The Owls took the series 2-1 over the Thundering Herd last March in Boca Raton. Marshall claimed the shutout victory 4-0 in game one, but the Owls would rally in the second game of the doubleheader, 10-3, and then clinch the series in Sunday's rubber match with a 4-3 win in nine innings.

Eyeing Marshall:
Marshall finished the 2018 regular season with a 25-29-1 record (13-9-1 C-USA), which panned out to be the fifth best in the conference. The Thundering Herd lost in the first round of the C-USA Tournament to No. 8 seed WKU (5-2), but rounded out the conference fifth in batting average (.274), 10th in ERA (3.79) and 11th in fielding percentage (74 errors). In Marshall's non-conference slate, the squad picked up quality non-conference wins over Missouri (8-2), George Washington (2-0) and James Madison (7-0) last season.

Marshall was projected to finish eighth, as voted on by the league's head coaches. The reigning C-USA Freshman of the Year in Aly Harrell (IF) was the Thundering Herd's lone preseason choice. Marshall is currently 33-18 (14-7 C-USA) under direction of Megan Smith, who is in her first season with the program after previously spending nine years at the helm at Kansas. Harrell is batting .339 and her protégé, Mya Stevenson is right behind her with a .315 batting average and has racked up two C-USA Player of the Week awards during her rookie season. Hayden Ellis has also been named Player of the Week following the Herd's series with Louisiana Tech. Pitching duties have primarily been given to Abigail Tolbert, who leads the league in wins with a 21-14 record with a 2.96 ERA and 146 strikeouts, while Kailee Williamson is next in line with a 3.22 ERA, 84 Ks and a 10-3 record. Marshall is one of the hottest hitting teams in the conference and enjoyed an 11-game home run streak before that was snapped in Wednesday's 7-3 loss against Pitt.

FAU vs. Charlotte Recap:
FAU closed out the 2019 season at home with their first series win since Southern Miss in mid-March. In the opening game of the series, Charlotte's five runs in the first inning, which included a grand slam, was all the 49ers needed to take the 5-2 victory. The Owls hit much better in the second game, where they pulled out a 5-4 win. With a tied score in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out and Samantha Lageyre at third base, Mia Olson walked it off on the first pitch with an RBI single. In Sunday's rubber match with the series on the line, the Owls had one of their best all-around performances this season to run away with a 7-1 victory. The series win was huge in terms of the Owls' C-USA Tournament chances.

Social Media:
For live updates during Wednesday's games and for other FAU softball news, follow along on Twitter (@fauowlssoftball), Instagram (@Owls_softball) and Facebook.

Up Next:
Pending the Owls' performance this weekend, the team will be heading to Birmingham, Alabama for the C-USA Tournament. More information about the tournament, including the bracket and schedule will be released on fausports.com.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Samantha Lageyre

Mia Olson

Upcoming Events

Florida Atlantic University Athletics