First and Ben

 By Ben Anderson      The historic season continues for Marshall Softball, as it will be going dancing for just the third time in program history and the first since 2017 by earning an at-large bid to the 2026 NCAA Softball Tournament, playing in the Durham Regional.      Marshall is paired with another at-large team, the Arizona Wildcats of the Big 12 Conference. Duke, the No. 12 seed from the Atlantic Coastal Conference, and the hosting team of the regional will take on the Howard Bison, who are coming off its second consecutive MEAC Tournament championship.      This comes off the heels of a long struggle for the Thundering Herd over the last two weeks of the regular season and the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. Marshall dropped two of three games on the road against Louisiana and at home against Duke, before falling in the SBC Tournament quarterfinals 6-0 against No. 10 Coastal Carolina. The Herd’s other two appearances came in 2013...

 By Ben Anderson      Today, Marshall Softball welcomes the James Madison Dukes to Dot Hicks Field for the regular season series finale, and a chance to claim its first Sun Belt Conference regular season crown.       The Thundering Herd enters at 36-14 (16-5) and tied for first place with the ULM Warhawks, who plays Southern Miss this weekend. Both teams have a chance to share the regular season title if it matches weekend results.       The Dukes are 25-22 (11-10) and winners of nine of its last 11, after sweeping the Georgia State Panthers last weekend. The Dukes are currently ranked fifth in the SBC.       This weekend is a weekend of celebration for the Thundering Herd. On Friday, the program will announce the 2026 Emileigh Cooper “Warrior” Award. Saturday’s pregame festivities will recognize the seniors of Abby Darnley, Paige Maynard, and Paige Simpson. The team will also recognize Haleigh Adkins, Bella...

 By Ben Anderson      Marshall Women’s Basketball ended the historic 2025-26 season by claiming its first postseason tournament championship in program history, defeating Illinois State 66-41 to win the Women’s National Invitation Tournament at the Cam Henderson Center.       The Thundering Herd finished the season with the most wins in a single season (28), surpassing the record of (26) set by the 2023-24 Sun Belt Conference Championship and NCAA Tournament squad led by now Tennessee Women’s Basketball head coach Kim Caldwell.       With the WNIT Championship game marking my final basketball broadcast for the Cutting Edge Sports Radio Network, I want to look back at the last four years of the Thundering Herd women’s basketball program.       I arrived on the campus of Marshall University in the fall of 2022. I did not know anything about the women’s basketball program as I had only followed the men’s team u...

 By Ben Anderson           The dominance of Marshall Softball at Dot Hicks Field this season continued on Tuesday afternoon, shutting out the Pitt Panthers of the ACC 8-0 in six innings.      The Thundering Herd entered the contest receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll. Marshall was also ranked 25 in the NCAA RPI Rankings.       Maddie Veal pitched her third complete game shutout of the season, limiting the Panthers to a single infield hit in the contest.      Marshall has now won 85 wins in three seasons under Morgan Zerkle.       The bats were just as electric for the Thundering Herd, as it poured out 11 hits. Marshall got the scoring started in the second inning as Haleigh Adkins sent a double to right field to score Paige Simpson. The Herd tacked on another run in the third to take a 2-0 lead after the first three innings. Adkins is a perfect 6-for-6 in the Her...

 By Ben Anderson      The arrival of spring brought the return of Marshall Track & Field for the 2026 outdoor season, aiming to build on the success from the indoor campaign.       The Thundering Herd have continued to carry on that success behind the trio of men’s long jumpers – OT Omot, Cam Hamby, and TreShaun Smith – who have each taken turns at cracking the programs’ outdoor long jump record. Director of Track & Field Keith Roberts said that the trio has developed into leaders of the program.      “What it really boils down to is their work ethic, their communication with me, their communication with each other, their competitive spirit,” Roberts said in an interview with First and Ben. “They’re crazy competitors. They just want to be great at everything they do. They won’t back down from anybody. So, it’s been fun to see that, and it spread out through the team.”      The women’s long-distance group retur...

By Ben Anderson      In the midst of a five-game skid, Marshall baseball fell to the Ohio Bobcats 5-3 Wednesday night at Jack Cook Field, extending its losing streak to six games.       After struggling on the mound over the weekend against Coastal Carolina, the Herds’ pitching staff continued to be lackluster, walking seven Bobcats batter while also hitting two.       Blaine Albright started on the bump for the Thundering Herd, aiming to recover after allowing three runs in 2.1 innings against West Virginia. He delivered a much better performance against Ohio, recording three strikeouts, while allowing only one hit, and four walks in three innings.      The Bobcats broke through in the top of the fourth when Tyler Stack hit a sacrifice fly to score Dylan Shepherd. That run sparked the Bobcat’s offense, and in the fifth inning, left fielder Cameron Boyd launched leadoff home run 408 feet to center field with an exit v...