MU softball wins 18th straight game

HUNTINGTON, W.Va — The Marshall Thundering Herd (28-3, 4-0 Sun Belt) won its 18th consecutive game Tuesday with a 13-1 win over Northern Kentucky at Dot Hicks Field.

The 18 wins in a row are a new program record, surpassing the 2017 team’s 17 game streak.

The streak has been a microcosm of the team’s overarching success in 2023. Marshall leads the Sun Belt in batting average, hits, RBI, stolen bases, and ERA to name a few statistical categories.

While the achievement is great, Head Coach Megan Smith Lyon knows there are larger goals ahead.

“We’re more focused on each day and our process,” Smith Lyon said. “We don’t really talk about those big things, people like to talk about it but we don’t. We will stick with our process and our goals and I think our girls have done a really good job focusing on that.”

The Herd wasted no time against the Norse, with Sydney Bickel stealing home in the bottom half of the 1st to score the game’s opening run.

Bickel had a day to remember, hitting her first career home run in part of a five-run 2nd inning for Marshall.

Marshall tacked on seven more in the 3rd to set up a run-rule scenario.

Four MU hitters had multi-RBI games with the top three of Alex Coleman, Bickel, and Autumn Owen, with Brooklyn Ulrich driving in a pair of runs with an RBI triple as well.

The offense provided plenty for junior pitcher Savannah Rice, who earned her seventh win in the circle of the season.

Rice struck out 10 in five innings of work, allowing just two hits with no walks.

UP NEXT

The seven-game homestand continues for MU softball with Sun Belt Conference opponent Georgia State coming to Huntington over the weekend. The first game between the Thundering Herd and Panthers is scheduled for Friday, March 31 at 1:00 p.m.

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