Morgan Zerkle

Personal: Zerkle is working as an assistant coach at Miami University, leading the Redhawks to the Mid-American Conference championship in each of the last three years. She graduated from Marshall with a degree in exercise science with a concentration in clinical exercise psychology and earned her Master’s degree in kinesiology in 2019 with an emphasis in athletic administration and sport management. Zerkle lists her former coach Shonda Stanton as a person who has made a difference in her life. She was involved in gymnastics, track and field, and Girl Scouts as a child and enjoys traveling and spending time outside. Zerkle did not become a left-handed hitter until her junior year of high school and has worn No. 18 since college. She also wears it because she likes even numbers.

2023 AUX Season: Zerkle accumulated 866 leaderboard points, securing 14th place in the league standings. She earned 720 win points and 146 stat points. Zerkle served as team captain during the opening series and led her team to a 3-1 record. Zerkle started in all 10 games and had a batting average of .289 with four runs batted in. She had a total of 11 hits, all of which were singles, and scored seven runs. Zerkle had seven games where she hit safely, with four of them being multi-hit performances. One notable performance was against Team Filler on June 19, where she went 2-for-4 with three runs batted in. She also had back-to-back two-hit outings at the start of the season against Team Garcia on June 12 and Team Mulipola on June 14.

2022 Championship Season: Zerkle collected 1,046 leaderboard points, started all 15 games, and had a .319 batting average with two home runs and six runs batted in. She tied for ninth in the league with nine walks and stole three bases in four attempts. Zerkle had four multi-hit games, including back-to-back two-hit outings to end Week One. She drove in three runs as part of a 2-for-3 performance against Team Chidester on July 30 and also had two hits, including a home run, with three runs scored in Week One finale against Team Eberle. Zerkle tallied a hit in seven of the final eight games, including two hits in the season finale against Team Chidester. She served as a team captain during Week One.

2022 AUX Season: Zerkle placed fourth in the league standings with 1,338 leaderboard points and earned three game MVP commendations. She batted .385 while starting all 12 games, accumulated 15 hits, including two doubles and a home run, and recorded five runs batted in while scoring nine times. Zerkle tied with Sam Fischer for second in the league with six multi-hit outings, hit a three-run home run against Team Mulipola on June 18, and closed the season with eight hits over the final four games, including a three-hit performance against Team Fischer on June 25 in the 10-inning season finale. She scored at least one run in 8-of-12 games and served as a team captain during the final series of the season.

2021 Championship Season: Zerkle finished sixth in the league with 1,576 leaderboard points, ranked seventh with 1,120 win points and 376 stat points, and had a .300 batting average while starting 14 games. She was third in the league with 50 at-bats, collected 12 runs, which were tied for fourth in the circuit, registered 15 hits to rank eighth in the circuit, and drove in 14 runs, good for third in Athletes Unlimited. Zerkle tied with Amanda Lorenz for sixth in the league with 29 total bases and went perfect 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts. 

2020 Championship Season: Zerkle earned a share of fifth place on the inaugural leaderboard with 1,710 points, tallied 1,360 win points to finish third on the league leader list, and posted a .426 batting average with a .511 on-base percentage. She collected 20 hits, including three for extra bases, and was one of four players to record 20 hits. Zerkle was also one of 12 players to register a triple, tied for the league lead with seven stolen bases in seven attempts, and tallied two sacrifice hits to tie for second in the league with six other players.

International Experience: Zerkle helped Team USA win a Gold medal at the 2022 Pan American Championships and hit .538 during round-robin play with eight runs scored and three doubles. She was a member of Team USA who earned Silver medals at the World Cup of Softball and Japan Cup events in 2017 and hit .500 during the 2017 World Cup of Softball with two runs scored and two runs batted in. Zerkle also competed in the 2016 World Cup of Softball as a member of the USA Elite Team.

Other Professional Experience: Zerkle was the No. 26 overall selection in the 2017 NPF Draft by Scrap Yard Dawgs. She appeared in 15 games as a rookie with a .269 batting average, including a home run and two runs batted in.

At Marshall: Zerkle was a four-year letter winner at Marshall from 2014-17. She is one of three players in school history to earn NFCA All-America honors after receiving Second-Team recognition in 2017. Zerkle started 193-of-194 career games and authored a school-record .451 career batting average with 13 home runs and 104 runs batted in. She also scored 181 runs while registering 289 hits, including 25 doubles and a school-record 14 triples. Zerkle tied for third on the school’s career stolen base percentage ledger with .876 (162-of-185) and is one of 13 players in school history with 100 or more career RBI. She holds three of the top four single-season batting average marks in school history, including a program-record .506 average as a sophomore. Zerkle also set single-season records with 89 hits and 62 runs scored in 2015. She is one of three players in Marshall history to record multiple seasons with 40 or more stolen bases and ranks second on the school’s career hits, stolen bases, and runs scored lists. Zerkle is third in Marshall history with 381 career total bases, reached safely in 176-of-194 career games, and tallied 88 multi-hit games, including a school-record 34 three-hit efforts. She also tied for first in career multi-run games (48). Zerkle is the Marshall single-game record holder with five hits against Bucknell on Feb. 14, 2015, stole at least one base in 100 career games, the second-highest total in program history, and opened the 2015 season with at least one hit in 27 consecutive games, the longest streak in Marshall history. She also fashioned seven straight multi-hit efforts during the streak, which is tied for first in the program’s record book, and stole a base in the first 12 games of the 2015 season to set a school record. Zerkle earned First-Team NFCA All-Region commendations as a sophomore, junior, and senior, three-time First-Team All-Conference USA selection who earned Player of the Year honors in 2017, and also garnered Conference USA Female Athlete of the Year accolades as a senior. She is a CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-America recipient as a sophomore and senior and was a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award in 2017. Zerkle is a two-time recipient of Conference USA’s Spirit of Service Award.