The Marshall University softball team (20-15, 6-3) travels to Dayton, Ohio Wednesday to face Wright State University (18-15, 5-1) in a doubleheader.

After dropping two games to the University of Alabama at Birmingham this past weekend in a three-game series, Marshall now sits at second in the east side of Conference USA.

The series loss against the Blazers was the Herd’s first in conference play this season.

Junior pitcher Jordan Dixon said the Herd took something away from its outing in Alabama, which saw the team lose the final game of the series, 8-1.

“I think it was a wakeup call for everyone,” Dixon said. “We realize that we all need to come together as a team.”

The Herd’s lone win against the Blazers came in the second game of the series. The game went into extra innings as Marshall pulled out a 4-3 victory at Mary Bowers Field.   

The Herd was outscored 15-5 by the Blazers.

Senior outfielder Raquel Escareno said the team has to perform better on the offensive end going forward.

“We will be focusing on our hitting, obviously” Escareno said. “Because that is where we struggled a little bit against UAB.”

Escareno said the Herd needs to concentrate on its upcoming game and not worry about its previous loss.

Dixon said the key to defeating Wright State lies in the team’s ability to get back to the basics.

“I think we need to have fun and relax,” Dixon said.

Wright State heads into the contest after defeating Detroit College twice in a three-game series this past weekend.

The Raiders are led by sophomore outfielder Honnah Susor, who is batting .377 this season and has a team-high 40 hits this season.

First pitch for Wednesday’s game is set for 4 p.m. at the Wright State Softball Field.

Christian Hisman can be contacted at [email protected].