Marshall Softball Advance
By Ben Anderson, FM88 Sports Director
March 5, 2026
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (WMUL-FM) — Riding on a four-game winning streak, Marshall Softball officially begins home competition with the Marshall March Madness this weekend at Dot Hicks Field.
The four-team round robin includes the Thundering Herd, the Akron Zips, the Canisius Golden Griffins’, and the Howard Bison.
The Thundering Herd enters the round-robin with a 13-8 record, and ranked 19th in the D1 Softball Mid-Major Rankings, with a four-game winning streak following a four-game sweep against UConn, Liberty, and Radford at the Liberty Invitational. Marshall won two of its games via walk-off fashion with a bases-loaded walk in game one against the UConn Huskies, and a walk-off single by Paige Simpson against Radford.
The Thundering Herd has faced very strong competition to start the 2026 season, as its eight losses come against opponents with a combined record of 101-31, that includes two top 25 teams in Florida State & Florida.
Marshall is coming off a successful second season under head coach Morgan Zerkle in 2025 that saw the squad increase its win total by six games, with five more wins in SBC play from the season prior to finish second place in the conference. Unfortunately, the Thundering Herd’s season ended in its first game of the Sun Belt Conference tournament against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.
The Akron Zips are members of the Mid-American Conference, and former conference foe of the Thundering Herd during both teams’ time in the MAC. The Zips are coming off a successful 2025 campaign, going 30-25 (15-9) and competing in the postseason for the first time since 2017 as the No. 5 seed in the MAC Tournament.
The Zips entered the 2026 season ranked fourth in the MAC Softball Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Akron returns 17 players from the 2025 squad and added six newcomers to the roster.
The Zips are currently 6-14 on the season with losses to opponents with a combined record of 102-84. Marshall leads the all-time series against Akron 19-18, having won the last 11 meetings with the most recent in 2021 with the Herd going 2-0 against the Zips in a double-header.
The Canisius Golden Griffins are members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). Canisius is coming off a par 2025 campaign that saw the Golden Griffins’ go 26-26 (15-10).
The Golden Griffins’ have a new coach in charge, with former assistant coach Joe Gierlak taking the helm, following the stepping down of Kim Griffin to pursue a career in mental health counseling.
Canisius entered the 2026 season ranked eighth in the MAAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Golden Griffins’ junior outfielder Ella Johel was named to the 2026 Preseason All-MAC Team following a phenomenal 2025 campaign when she hit a team-best .395, which ranked fifth in the league. She ranked among the top five hitters in the MAAC in eight different offensive categories, including batting average, hits (68), doubles (15), triples (9), RBI (45), runs scored (43) slugging percentage (.673) and OPS (1.101). Her 15 doubles were tied for fourth-most by a Canisius player in a single-season and her nine triples ranked third best in the nation.
Canisius arrives to Huntington with a 4-4 record and losing to opponents with a combined record of 34-26. Marshall leads the all-time series against the Golden Griffins’ 2-0 with both matchups coming in 2009.
The Howard Bison are the defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), qualifying for the NCAA Tournament for the second time in four seasons with a 31-20 (19-1), while also winning the MEAC regular season championship.
The Bison are led by eighth-year head coach Tori Tyson and are the preseason favorites to win the MEAC again this season. The Bison return 2025 All-MEAC First Team pitcher, senior Julia Holt, who produced 94 strikeouts in 113.0 inning of work last season.
The Bison have started the 2026 campaign with a 7-12 record and losing to opponents with a combined record of 108-74, including multiple Power 4 programs of Michigan State, LSU, Minnesota and Arizona. Marshall leads the all-time series against Howard 3-0, with the most recent matchup being a sweep in a double-header in 2022.
Marshall will compete in four games during the three-day event, with a double-header on Friday against Akron and Canisius, and two games against Howard, one on Saturday and Sunday.
Friday’s double-header coverage begins against Akron with pregame coverage at 2:45 p.m. with FM88 Sports’ Ben Anderson & Alyson Messinger on the call.
Saturday’s coverage against Howard begins with pregame coverage at 2:45 p.m. with Owen James and Victoria Lavonne-Wilburn on the call.
Sunday’s coverage against Howard begins with pregame coverage at 12:15 p.m. with FM88 Sports Ben Anderson & Zach McNeely on the call. All Marshall games will be broadcast on the Cutting Edge Sports Radio Network and online on Stream 1 at Marshall.edu/WMUL