Marshall University Athletics
Johnson's Grand Slam Helps Herd To 12-4 Win
4/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Johnson's Grand Slam Helps Herd To 12-4 Win
4/23/2005
- Box Score
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Tommy Johnson's (Gaithersburg, MD) grand slam in the second inning contributed to what would be a seven-run inning that would push the Thundering Herd baseball team to a 12-4 win over Virginia Tech at English Field on Saturday night.
For Johnson, it marked his first home run of the season and first in a Thundering Herd uniform.
Offense was the story early and often for Marshall (13-21, 6-6 MAC) as it jumped to a 9-0 lead in the first three innings. Aaron Levinson (Seattle, WA) hit a one-out double in the first and would later advance to third when Aaron Jamieson (Lindsay, Ont.) hit into a fielder's choice. Tommy Johnson was up next and knocked in his first run of the day on a sacrifice fly.
In the second, seven Marshall runs crossed home plate. Brent Mason (Sherwood, AR) doubled and Brad Helm (Downingtown, PA) singled to lead off the inning. Mason scored the first run of the inning on Nick Wolle's (Coatesville, PA) fielder's choice. Next up was Adam Ptacek (Assaria, KS), who was hit by a pitch to bring up Aaron Levinson, who notched his second single of the day. The hit scored Nick Wolle.
Joe Glevenyak (West Palm Beach, FL) kept things going, reaching base on a walk. An RBI single by Aaron Jamieson brought in the third run of the inning, to bring Tommy Johnson to the plate. Johnson wasted no time, driving the first pitch out of the park to put Marshall up 8-0. MU tagged Hokie starting pitcher Matt McGahey for six runs in 1 1/3 innings. Bobby West, who took over for McGahey, gave up the grand slam to Johnson.
Another run by the Herd in the third inning gave the team a 9-0 lead. A single by Adam Ptacek scored Brad Helm, who walked earlier in the inning.
Virginia Tech (15-18, 2-12 ACC) got its first hit off of MU pitcher Chris Cummings (Huntington, WV) in the fourth inning. Their offense worked Cummings for a hit and three walks in the inning to put a run on the board. In the fifth, the Hokies continued to chip away at Marshall's lead, bringing in two more runs. The Hokies notched three straight hits, including an RBI single by Billy Marn to start off the inning. After walking Matt Hacker, Cummings allowed a sacrifice fly to deep center field by Bryan Thomas for the second run of the inning.
Marshall's offense kept its strong play going, extending the lead to 12-3 after seven innings. In the sixth, a run scored on a Brent Mason sacrifice fly. The seventh inning saw two more runs score. Nick Wolle led off with a walk and two batters later, Aaron Levinson reached on his third hit of the day. That brought up Joe Glevenyak, who tripled for the second time this season to score both runners.
One more run scored for the Hokies in the eighth, but they would get no closer as Marshall would finish on the winning end of a 12-4 decision.
Chris Cummings, who went five innings, gave up three runs to take his third win of the season, improving to 3-1. Freshman Andrew Hancock (Ashland, KY) pitched three solid innings allowing a run on two hits. Junior Bryson Meyers (Oakland, MD) pitched a scoreless ninth. For Virginia Tech, starter Matt McGahey took the loss, his first of the season. He gave up six runs, five earned in just 1 1/3 innings. Bobby West was the second pitcher of the day for VT and gave up four runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Marshall's offense out-hit the Hokies, 12-7. Levinson led the Herd with a 3-5 performance in which he scored three runs. Johnson, who went 2-3, brought in five runs, four on the grand slam and one on a sacrifice fly in the first inning. Glevenyak was 2-5 on the day with two runs scored and two RBI's on his triple in the seventh. Seven different VT hitters recorded on hit a piece.
On Sunday, the Herd will look to win its first season series ever over Virginia Tech when the teams square off on Sunday at 1 p.m.. Live stats can be seen on the Hokies website, www.hokiesports.com.
