Marshall University Athletics
Herd Clinches Series At Ball State
5/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Herd Clinches Series At Ball State
5/16/2004
- Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Thundering Herd baseball team, behind a strong pitching effort by Brian Chrisman (Pittsburgh, PA) took the final game of their Mid-American Conference series at Ball State by a score of 8-2. It clinched their first series win against Ball State.
The Herd (24-27, 7-13 MAC) offense struck early and often to start the game. In the top of the first. Chris Monaco (Tucson, AZ) walked and Aaron Jamieson (Lindsay, Ont.) singled to bring up Francois Larmore (Magnolia, NJ), who singled to score the first run of the game. He also stole a base in the inning for his 13th of the season, second behind Monaco. With one out, Adam Frederick (Franklin, PA) walked to load the bases and bring Rich Russell (Toronto, Ont.) to the plate. Russell singled to center to bring in two runs and give MU a 3-0 lead.
Ball State (26-23, 14-10 MAC) came right back in the bottom of the inning as the first three batters reached base. Marc Franz had a two-RBI double to bring the Cardinals within one run of Marshall.
After a scoreless second inning, Russell hit a home run out of the park deep in left field to give Marshall a 4-2 lead. It was his seventh of the season, tied with Larmore for the team lead. In the fourth, Roddy Stieger (Westchester, OH) led the inning off with a solo home run. It was his second of the weekend, and extended the Herd lead to three runs.
The lead was widened to four runs in the top of the fifth. Frederick and Russell each singled to lead off the inning. Brad Helm (Downington, PA) laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third. Next up was Stieger, who hit a single to bring in Frederick and give Marshall a 6-2 lead. Another run was added in the top of the seventh. Russell was hit by a pitch and a sacrifice bunt by Helm moved him to second. With one out, Mike Koitsopoulos (Markham, Ont.) hit a single to third and advanced on a throwing error. Russell scored on the play to make it a 7-2 game.
In the top of the eighth, Larmore hit a one out double down the first base line. After Corie O?Bryan (Frederick, MD) flew out, Adam Frederick notched his third hit of the day, an RBI single to give the Herd an 8-2 lead. Frederick also stole second for his eleventh stolen base of the season.
While the Herd was busy putting runs on the board, freshman starter Brian Chrisman (Pittsburgh, PA) kept the Cardinals offense in check. After allowing two runs in the bottom of the first inning, Chrisman settled down and allowed only five more base runners through the middle of the eighth inning. He pitched a total of 7 2/3 innings, allowing only two runs on five hits. The 7 2/3 IP is a career high for Chrisman. His previous high for a single game was six innings, which he did three times this year.
With two outs in the eighth, Steve Ziroli (LaGrange, IL) came in for Chrisman and got a ground out to end the inning. In the ninth, Ziroli struck out two and got a ground out to give the Herd the 8-2 win.
Chrisman took the win and improved to 4-3 on the season. Larmore, Russell and Koitsopoulos each had three hits on the day. Russell also had three RBI?s. Larmore extended his hitting streak to ten, the top current streak on the team. Stieger, Frederick and Jamieson each had two hits. Stieger had a home run for the second day to give him a total of four on the season.
With their 24th win, Marshall is only three behind the all-time season win record of 27 set in 1978. The Herd will look to tie or break the record in next weekend?s series against Buffalo. Another note, prior to this weekend, the Herd was 0-6 against Ball State, but with this weekend?s series, Marshall improves to 2-7 against BSU.
This week will mark final week of the season for Marshall baseball. The action starts on Wednesday when the Herd travels to Eastern Kentucky for a 3 p.m. contest against the Colonels. On Friday, the University at Buffalo Bulls come to Huntington for a three game set at University Heights. That series will mark the final season and Mid-American Conference series of the season for Marshall. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. on Friday.
