Marshall Softball Recap
By Sean Kelly, FM88 Sports Director
March 8, 2025
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (WMUL-FM) — Compared to its 9-1, five-inning victory over the Loyola Chicago Ramblers early Friday afternoon, Marshall softball’s 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Bulls would not be described as the prettiest of wins, but still making its third in five games.
“Wasn’t our best offensive day, but we had some big swings in there which made the difference in the ballgame,” Marshall head coach Morgan Zerkle said. “Our defense was great, pitching held us tight, and fun for our home crowd to see the squad this year.”
The Thundering Herd got to work early in the batters box. Redshirt junior second baseman Brooklyn Ulrich led off with a triple before an error and steal by senior center fielder Kasia Parks put the home side in position to take the lead in back-to-back at bats. Though the Herd jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the third with a solo home run by senior first baseman Rielly Lucas, the home bats fell silent in the middle innings.
“I think that we attacked her early on, we scored in the first inning and then we just kind of started swinging at balls, or getting a little (off) time, getting a little too much tilt,” Zerkle said. “I want to be able to see them adjust quicker and it was nice to see them score first, but let’s keep that energy all game long.”
In the circle, sophomore transfer Jules King made her Dot Hicks Field debut by tossing her second complete game of the year and falling one strikeout short of tying her season high of 11. However, Zerkle pointed to her number of walks as one negative to her game two victory.
“I didn’t love her freebees, but I love that she responded and didn’t let them get to her,” Zerkle said. ”We got some runners on base that (we) shouldn’t have and it made it a little tighter, but she responded, she got some big strikeouts there, and she got outs when she needed to be.”
After walking her third and fourth batters of the contest, putting runners on the corners in the top of the seventh, King made her 10th strikeout the most crucial of them all. With the tying run on third base, King got Lily Lauck to strike out looking and seal a 3-2 victory.
However, the final out did not come without a challenge. With catcher Lily Lauck battling to a full count, two meetings in the circle made a difference in King winning the battle.
“Quickly getting 1-2 (in the count) and then she’s really making me work for the strikeout,” King said. “Really having Darn come out and talk was just like, ‘Okay, here we go. You can do this.’ So, just really resetting our mind and knowing I can throw a strike right there.”
Five days removed from her previous start against the Kansas Jayhawks in which King walked three batters, gave up three hits, and allowed three earned runs in a loss, King found the difference to come from trusting in herself and focusing on her spin when pitching.
“Really just trusting my spin and knowing I can throw it, and knowing I can get swings and misses,” starting pitcher Jules King said. “So, just really focusing all week on my spin and my approach at the batter, not with myself.”
You can tune in to Saturday’s schedule from Dot Hicks Field right here on WMUL-FM 88.1 or by visiting our website marshall.edu/wmul. Ben Anderson will be on the call for game one against the Valparaiso Beacons (3:45 p.m. pregame and 4 p.m. start) as well as game two against the Buffalo Bulls. Coverage of game two begins at 6:15 p.m. and first pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m.