Tulsa Softball Takes Down Marshall in Five Innings

The Golden Hurricane advanced with a 10-0 win in the first round.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:24 pm

By: News On 6

Tulsa Softball Takes Down Marshall in Five Innings

Originally Published: May 12, 2011 12:45 PM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The Golden Hurricane quickly dispatched the Marshall Thundering Herd 10-0 to advance in the Conference USA Softball Tournament on Thursday.

Tulsa, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, waited a couple innings to get on the scoreboard, but was dominant when it did.

In the bottom of the third, Samantha Cobb got the Golden Hurricane on the board, doubling up the middle to score Kelly Chapman and Caitlin Everett.

Lacey Middlebrooks grounded out in the next at-bat, but brought home Jill Barrett to give TU a 3-0 lead after the third.

The third inning was impressive offensively for Tulsa, but the fourth saw even more action.

Three straight batters for the Golden Hurricane drove in a run each with one out in the fourth.

After a hit-by-pitch to break up that rhythm, Marshall changed to its third pitcher (the Herd used four in the game).

But nothing was working on the mound as Skylar Swanson, Aimee Creger and Shelby Blanton took their turns, knocking in four more runs in succession.

After another shutout inning from Creger, Tulsa didn’t need the bottom of the fifth to seal the deal with a run-rule.

Creger threw all five innings for TU and gave up two hits. She and the rest of the pitching staff and fielders are in the process of making history, for they have now gone 40.1 straight innings without allowing a run – a program record.

Samantha Cobb drove in three runs on the day with two hits and a run of her own.

Tulsa’s 10-0 margin of victory is the largest for the C-USA Championship since 2005 when Louisville beat Houston 11-0.

The Golden Hurricane advances to take on the winner of the UAB – UCF game in the semifinals at 1 p.m. on Friday.