Marshall University Athletics
Baseball Falls to Liberty, 8-5
3/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball Falls to Liberty, 8-5
3/14/2004
- Box Score
LYNCHBURG, Va. - The seven-game win streak by the Herd baseball team was brought to an end Sunday, as the Liberty Flames used a late-inning charge to earn an 8-5 win at Worthington Stadium.
Marshall got off to another quick start to open up the game. Chris Monaco (Tucson, AZ) bunted to reach base, but got thrown out while trying to steal second. Marshall Murray (Walnut Creek, CA) followed up with a single and a stolen base to move to second. Next was Adam Fredericl (Franklin, PA), who continued his hot hitting, notching a single to bring in Murray and give Marshall a 1-0 lead. That brought up Francois Larmore (Magnolia, NJ), who hit a two-run home run to right center to give Marshall a 3-0 lead. With two outs, Rich Russell (Toronto, Ont.) hit his second home run of the year to give MU a quick 4-0 lead.
Liberty made it a 4-1 game in the bottom of the second, but Marshall came back with a run of their own in the third. With two outs, Russell came within inches of his second home run of the day, but the ball bounced off of the center field wall, giving Russell a double. After Roddy Stieger (Westchester, OH) was hit by a pitch, Brad Helm (Downington, PA) hit a single to bring in Russell and give Marshall a 5-1 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Liberty notched another run, making it a 5-2 game.
In the bottom of the sixth, starting pitcher Chris Koutsavlis (Pittsburgh, PA) allowed two one-out hits. That caused Coach Piepenbrink to bring in Chris Cummings (Huntington, WV). Cummings allowed three hits, two of them triples, which gave Liberty a 6-5 lead.
The Liberty pitching staff was able to hold the lead through the ninth inning and earn their sixth victory of the season. The loss drops Marshall to a record of 8-8.
Chris Koutsavlis pitched 5.1 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits. Cummings pitched 2/3 of an innings, allowing two runs on three hits. He took the loss for MU, dropping his record to 1-2. Dobies pitched 1 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, and Henning pitched a scoreless 1/3 of an inning.
Liberty out-hit MU, 13-10. Russell and Larmore had two hits each for the Herd. Six players had one hit apiece.
The Herd will try to avenge today?s loss on Monday in the third and final game of the series when they take on Liberty at 1 p.m. After the game, the Herd will head to East Carolina for a game on Tuesday afternoon.
