Marshall University Athletics
Herd Baseball Sweeps Doubleheader
3/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Herd Baseball Sweeps Doubleheader
3/6/2004
- Game 1 Box
- Game 2 Box
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. ? Strong pitching coupled with hot hitting helped the Thundering Herd baseball team sweep a doubleheader against Niagara University and extend their win streak to five.
In game one, Niagara took a quick 1-0 lead in the top half of the inning, but in the bottom of that inning, Chris Monaco (Tucson, AZ) notched a single to extend his hitting streak to nine. After stealing second base, Monaco advanced to third on a fielder?s choice and scored on a balk by Niagara pitcher Kyle Nicoletta.
Marshall took the lead in the bottom of the third inning after three consecutive doubles by Adam Frederick (Franklin, PA), Corie O?Bryan (Frederick, MD) and Rich Russell (Toronto, Ont.). Those hits added two more runs to give the Herd a 3-1 lead.
After a home run by Purple Eagle Reed Eastley cut the lead to 3-2, Marshall scored one run in each of the next three innings. Francois Larmore (Magnolia, NJ) notched an RBI single in the fourth while Joe Glevenyak (West Palm Beach, FL) notched an RBI single of his own in the fifth. Marshall made the lead 6-2 in the sixth when Adam Frederick hit a sacrifice fly.
Niagara made a run in the seventh, scoring two runs off of Chris Meadows (Huntington, WV), but their run was stopped short as Meadows was able to get the final two batters out to help the Herd to their fourth straight win by a 6-4 margin. Chris Koutsavlis (Pittsburgh, PA) earned his first win of the year, pitching 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits. Chris Monaco added two stolen bases in the game while going 2-3. Francois Larmore went 2-4 with an RBI and Corie O?Bryan found his swing again, going 2-3 with one RBI.
Game two saw Niagara score first for the second straight game. After a triple by Niagara third baseman Andrew MacNevin, Vince Arcandia hit a one-out single to bring in MacNevin and give NU a 1-0 lead. They added on another run in the second after Reed Eastley hit his second home run of the day.
After six of the first seven batters were retired for the Herd, the stormed back in the bottom of the third with their best inning of the year. The inning saw 16 Marshall batters tally 11 runs on eight hits. Aaron Jamieson (Lindsay, Ont.) led off the inning with a double. The next batter, Mike Koitsopoulos (Markham, Ont.) was issued a walk, which brought up Chris Monaco, who laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to second and third. Next up was Larmore, who walked to bring up Adam Frederick, who hit a single to score two runs. A double steal advanced the runners to second and third for Corie O?Bryan, who hit a single to bring in two more runs and give the Herd a 4-2 lead.
Marshall was only getting started. Rich Russell (Toronto, Ont.) was hit by a pitch and Roddy Stieger (Westchester, OH) was walked to load the bases up for Joe Glevenyak, who hit a single to add on two more runs. After the two batters on base were advanced to second and third, Mike Koitsopoulos hit another two-run single to give MU an 8-2 lead. The Herd added three more runs in the inning after Monaco reached on an error and Larmore and Frederick each tallied hits. After three, MU had an 11-2 lead, which was all the runs they needed.
Marshall added on another run in the bottom of the fourth to give starting pitcher Grant Harper (Grayson, KY) a 12-2 lead to work with. Harper allowed five Niagara runs in seven strong innings pitched. Patrick Molinari (Plainfield, IL) and Mike Marchyshyn (Markham, Ont.) pitched the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, to give Marshall its fifth straight win.
Head Coach Dave Piepenbrink was excited about the recent win streak and the job his team had done. ?This was a big day for us, Koutsavlis pitched a strong game earlier in the day and Grant came out and did his job in the second game,? Piepenbrink said. ?The guys have been swinging the bats pretty well lately, hopefully that continues as we head towards our MAC schedule.?
For the day, Corie O?Bryan led the way for Marshall going a combined 5-8 for the doubleheader. Larmore went 3-6 on the day while Adam Frederick continued his hot streak, going 3-8. Chris Monaco did not record a hit in the second game to end his streak at nine, but his productivity was still there, as he managed three stolen bases in the two games to increase his total to 13.
The win improved Marshall to a record of 6-7 and dropped Niagara to a record of 0-4. The two teams will square off for the third and final game of the series on Sunday at University Heights at 1 p.m. Marshall will try and extend their win streak to six, while trying to stay undefeated at home. Admission to the game is free.
