Following a series loss against Middle Tennessee to begin Conference USA play, the Herd softball team returns home to take on the Florida Atlantic Owls for a four-game series April 16-18.  

Marshall goes into the series with a 12-8 record, while FAU comes to Huntington with an 8-23 record.  

Both teams recently lost three out of four games in C-USA play, with the Owls falling to the Charlotte 49ers. 

Marshall currently leads the all-time series against FAU, 11-8, and has won the last three games. 

The Herd is led by junior utility player Mya Stevenson and senior first baseman Aly Harrell. 

With 35 career home runs, Stevenson is tied with Shaelynn Braxton (2013-15, ’17) for third place in all-time home runs. 

Harrell — with 36 career home runs — surpassed Braxton and Stevenson during game three of the four-game series against MTSU. 

Not only have the veteran players led the way for the Herd, but a couple of freshmen have also been impact players. 

 One of those impact freshmen is catcher Kat Sackett, who has become a major contributor for the Herd — hitting three home runs and batting in 14 runners while posting a batting average of .308. 

Despite recent struggles in pitching for the Herd, one of the pitchers has remained consistent in relief. 

Senior pitcher Megan Stauffer has pitched 11 innings and has only given up one run, giving her a 0.64 ERA. 

After 1.2 innings, Stauffer came on in relief of senior pitcher Laney Jones and pitched the rest of the game (5.1 innings) and offered a steady hand in a 10-4 Marshall victory. 

With both FAU and Marshall losing three out of the four games in both their previous series, both teams will look to make a strong impression in a critical series. 

 The softball games will take place on Friday (1 p.m.), Saturday (1 p.m. and 3 p.m.), and Sunday (12 p.m.). All four games are scheduled to air on WMUL-FM 88.1. 

 Noah Hickman can be contacted at [email protected].