Marshall University Athletics
Herd Uses Big Fifth Inning to Down Bears, 6-5
2/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Herd Uses Big Fifth Inning to Down Bears, 6-5
2/15/2003
- Box Score
MACON, Ga. ? Marshall University needed a thunderous two out, fifth-inning rally to take control of the Mercer Bears on Saturday and pull out a gritty 6-5 victory at Claude Smith Field.
Marshall was held hitless until Roddy Stieger?s (Westchester, Ohio) single with two outs in the fifth set off a barrage of Herd hits, highlighted by Matt LaFleur?s (Chesapeake, Va.) single down the right field line that plated two more runs. Marshall scored five total runs in the pivotal inning and used superior pitching down the stretch to hold on to the victory.
Mike Marchyshyn (Markham, Ont.) relieved starter Rick Suter (St. Clairsville, Ohio) who pitched four innings, giving up two earned runs. In his Division I debut, Marchyshyn retired all six batters he faced in two innings of work to pick up his first career victory. Steve Ziroli (LaGrange, Ill.) and Scott Henning (Wilmington, Del.) pitched a combined three innings giving up only one hit to close out the game. Henning registered his first career save after transferring from Cecil Community College this past off-season.
?Our relief pitchers closed the door for us tonight,? said Marshall head coach Dave Piepenbrink. ?Marchyshyn?s slider was effective, he did a great job along with Henning and Ziroli. Those guys really showed their maturity and poise.?
After allowing six hits and four runs through two innings, the Herd pitching staff did not allow a hit from the fourth to the eighth inning before giving up a single in the ninth.
Mercer starter Chris Bishop took the loss for the Bears after nearly pitching five innings of no hit baseball. Stieger broke up Bishop?s no hit bid with his fifth-inning single, allowing Marshall to bat around with two outs and, in effect, turn the game around. Juniors Mike Koitsopoulos (Markham, Ont.), Francois Larmore (Magnolia, N.J.), Corie O?Bryan (Frederick, Md.) along with sophomore Joe Glevenyak (West Palm Beach, Fla.) all produced singles in the big inning.
?Coach (Brad) Stromdahl thought it would be a good idea to pinch-hit Stieger in that situation, so we tried it out,? Piepenbrink said, ?and it was a heck of a hunch on his part.?
Glevenyak continued his stellar series by going 2-for-5, with one run scored and an RBI. He was 2-for-2 in his last game, both hits leaving the yard as solo shots.
The Herd committed three errors in the first inning and struck out nine times in the game, statistics that has Piepenbrink concerned.
?We showed a lot of mental toughness tonight, but our sloppy defense at times plus bad decisions at the plate made this game too close,? Piepenbrink said.
Marshall (2-1) returns to the diamond in Charleston, S.C., to compete in the College of Charleston Tournament next weekend. The Thundering Herd will face the host Cougars at 5 p.m. on Feb. 21.
Series Notes: Marshall at Mercer, Marshall wins 2-1
With his start on Saturday, senior pitcher Rick Suter moved into ninth place on Marshall?s all-time career games started list with 27, moving ahead of Paul Holley?s 26 games started from 1967-69...Junior Chris Meadows' two appearances in both games of Friday?s doubleheader moved him into an eighth place tie with John Winters (1991-94) on the career appearances list with 45...Marshall snapped an 11 game losing streak, dating back to 2002, when the Herd came back from a 6-1 deficit to defeat Mercer 11-7 in game two of Friday?s twin bill...Senior first baseman Craig Dziedziejko failed to hit a home run in the season opener, ending a four-game HR streak to close out 2002. Dziedziejko did, however, extend his hitting streak from last season, collecting a hit in each of MU?s first three games to extend his hit streak to nine games...CF Brad Helm was unable to play Saturday due to a sprained wrist suffered in game two of the doubleheader on Friday.
