Marshall University Athletics
Baseball Ready For Home Opener
3/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball Ready For Home Opener
3/2/2004
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. - After starting off the season with nine road games, the Thundering Herd baseball team will open up its home schedule with a doubleheader against West Virginia State College that starts at noon on Wednesday at University Heights.
The Herd is coming off of a 13-5 victory Sunday against UAB. The Herd tallied 14 hits and 13 runs to send the Blazers to their first defeat of the season.
Sophomore catcher Rich Russell (Toronto, Ont.) had a stellar weekend, batting .556 with two doubles on Saturday and a grand slam in the win on Sunday.
Pitchers Grant Harper (Grayson, KY) and Chris Koutsavlis (Pittsburgh, PA) both had strong outings with Harper pitching seven innings, allowing four runs on seven hits en route to the win. Koutsavlis went 6 2/3 innings on Saturday allowing three runs on seven hits.
West Virginia State College comes in with a 4-1 record. They split their season-opening series against Alderson-Broaddus last week and swept West Virginia Wesleyan this past weekend.
MU leads the all-time series against WVSC, 49-13-1. The last time they met in 2003, the contest ended in a 2-2 tie. WVSC was victorious in the other 2003 contest by a score of 12-8.
The Herd will look to improve their 2-7 record as they host five games in six days at University Heights. The homestand starts on Wednesday against WVSC and will continue with a game at 2 p.m. on Friday against Concord. The Niagara Purple Eagles visit Huntington on Saturday and Sunday (Saturday for an 11 a.m. doubleheader and Sunday for a 1 p.m. series finale). Admission to all home games is free.
