April 4, 2008

Huntington, WV (UWIRE) -- As Marshall senior catcher Rachel Folden boarded the bus for Ohio State Wednesday around noon, she greeted her teammates with a simple message, "We're going to hit today."

Nine hours and two games later, it was evident the Thundering Herd listens when its senior leader speaks.

Folden went 5-for-9 with three home runs and seven RBIs, sparking Marshall (14-23) to a doubleheader sweep of No. 24 Ohio State (23-10), defeating the Buckeyes 11-0 and 6-1.

Marshall registered 29 hits in the two games, putting an end to its seven-game losing streak and becoming the first non-conference opponent to win at Buckeye Field in Columbus, Ohio in four seasons.

"Today seemed easy for us," head coach Shonda Stanton said. "In the past, we were finding ways to lose. Today, we came out and played loose and in control from the first pitch to the last pitch in both games."

The sweep marked the first time Marshall won back-to-back contests since they took two straight from Memphis on March 10.

Game one's victory was the Herd's first against a nationally ranked opponent since a 4-3 win over then No. 8 DePaul in the season opener in February.

After dropping 13 of its previous 15 games, Marshall's dispatching of the Buckeyes serves as a much needed momentum boost for the rest of the season, Stanton said.

"We've gotten through the tough part of our schedule and now we're ready to go," Stanton said. "Winning in the way we did tonight was huge for our confidence. We're expecting a great April and an even better May."

Marshall went 4-16 in March, but started April off right when junior center fielder Rachel Sofie singled home senior designated player Samantha Rodriguez to jumpstart the Herd in the top of the first inning of game one.

In the bottom half of the game's opening frame, sophomore pitcher Caitlyn Jackson set the tone for the rest of the evening, fighting her way out of a bases loaded jam by getting Buckeye shortstop Whitney Cooper to fly out harmlessly to right field and end the threat.For the game, Jackson (6-14) scattered eights hits over six innings, stranding 15 Ohio State base runners in earning her first shutout of the season.

Offensively, the Thundering Herd lit up the Buckeye Field scoreboard to the tune of 14 hits and 11 runs in game one, highlighted by five Marshall players registering at least two hits.

Leading 6-0 heading into the sixth inning, the Herd sent 10 players to the plate, putting across five runs, none more dramatic than Folden's two-run blast over the wall in left-center field, her first of three homers on the day.

"I felt really comfortable at the plate today," Folden said. "I knew from playing them before that Ohio State was going to challenge me, and I just took advantage of what they were giving me."

The 30-minute intermission in between contests did not slow down the Thundering Herd attack in game two. After Folden grounded out to begin the top half of the first inning, Rodriguez sliced a triple into left field and then scored following Jackson's RBI single, putting Marshall up 1-0.

The Buckeyes struck back with their only run of the day in the home portion of the first when sophomore catcher Sam Marder notched her nation-leading 43rd RBI, singling off Herd sophomore hurler Erin DeStefano to bring in freshman left fielder Dee Dee Hillman.

Marshall answered back, scoring five runs in the next six innings, capped off by a Folden shot deep into the Columbus night over the right field wall in the seventh, extending the Herd lead to 6-1.

DeStefano (3-6) then retired the OSU side in order in the bottom of the inning, ending game two and putting the exclamation point on a memorable night for the Marshall softball program.

"For us, the challenge has been translating believing in winning to actually going out there and getting victories," Stanton said. "Tonight, we came in here with the mindset that we were going to commit to our style of play from the beginning and we came out of here with two wins over a great program."

(C) 2008 The Parthenon via UWIRE