Marshall University Athletics
Herd Wins 13 Inning Thriller, 8-6
2/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Herd Wins 13 Inning Thriller, 8-6
2/22/2004
- Box Score
CHARLESTON, S.C. - A single by Corie O?Bryan (Frederick, MD) gave Marshall a 7-6 lead in the 13th inning and the Thundering Herd baseball team their first win of the season over Charleston Southern Sunday at Buccaneer Field.
The Herd started the scoring off in the first. After groundouts by Chris Monaco (Tucson, AZ) and Marshall Murray (Walnut Creek, CA), Adam Frederick (Franklin, PA) hit a two-out single. Corie O?Bryan (Frederick, MD) followed that up with a walk, which brought up senior Francois Larmore (Magnolia, NJ). Lamore hit a single to center field to bring in Frederick. The run was stopped short, however, as Corie O?Bryan was thrown at home after trying to score from first.
Starting pitcher Grant Harper (Grayson, KY) cruised through the bottom of the first inning, retiring the Buccaneers in order, but ran into trouble in the second. After hitting the first two batters of the inning, Charleston Southern outfielder Brian Sole hit a three-run homerun to give the Buccaneers a 3-1 lead.
Marshall came back in the top of the third when Chris Monaco was walked to get on base. Charleston Southern starter Bobby Parnell picked off Monaco at first, but Marshall Murray kept the inning going with a single to left field. That was followed up with singles by Frederick and O?Bryan to bring up Francois Larmore, who reached on an error by the second baseman. The error scored two runs to tie the game at three.
Charleston Southern battled back in the bottom of third when Jordan Haar reached base with a two-out single. That brought up Graham Maiden, who hit a shot out to left field, but a diving catch by Francois Larmore prevented a sure double and another run being scored.
The Buccaneers threatened again in the bottom of the fourth with two straight hits to put men on first and third, but a strikeout to Josh Brown of the Bucs got Harper out of the inning.
Marshall gained the lead back in the top of the seventh inning when Mike Koitsopoulos (Markham, Ont.) hit a triple to lead off the inning. After a ground out by Monaco, Marshall Murray got hit by a pitch to reach base. An error by the second baseman put Adam Frederick on base and score Koitsopoulos to give the Herd a 4-3 lead. The Herd was not done there. After a pop out by O?Bryan, Francois Larmore got his second double of the day to bring in Murray and Frederick to extend their lead to 6-3.
Charleston Southern came back in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with one out after two errors and a hit batter. A fielder?s choice by Buccaneer Graham Maiden scored a run to cut the lead to two. The next batter, Scotty Thacker hit a double to bring in two more runs to tie the game at six.
In the top of the eighth, the Herd rallied back when Josh McConnell (Phenix City, AL) hit a leadoff single. After a strikeout by Nick Wolle (Coatesville, PA), McConnell was picked off at first. After the pick off, the Herd tallied two straight singles to have men on second and third with two outs. A ground out by Marshall Murray ended the inning.
The bottom of the eighth brought about more excitement as Marshall brought in closer Chris Meadows (Huntington, WV). Meadows loaded up the bases with one out after walking two batters and hitting another, but a double play ball hit by Brad Woods of CSU ended the inning, keeping the game tied. The excitement continued in the bottom of the ninth as the bases were once again loaded with one out after an error and two walks, but Chris Meadows again pitched strong under pressure, striking out the final two batters to go to extra innings. The count on the final batter of the inning went to 3-2 with the bases loaded, but Meadows managed to strike him out.
With one out in the 13th, Chris Monaco walked and after an out to center field by Murray, Adam Frederick walked to put men on first and second with two outs. A single by Corie O?Bryan brought in Monaco to give the Herd a 7-6 lead. They added another run after Adam Frederick scored on a wild pitch from third. Joe Glevenyak hit into a fielder?s choice to end the inning.
Chris Cummings (Huntington, WV) came into the game in the 12th, striking out the side. In the 13th, he downed the Bucs in order to earn the win for the Herd.
Grant Harper pitched seven innings, giving up six runs. Meadows pitched four scoreless innings and Cummings pitched two.
With the victory, the Herd improves their record to 1-5. The Herd travels to UAB next weekend to take on the Blazers in a three-game series.
