Marshall University Athletics
Herd Clinches Series With 8-6 Win Over Golden Flashes
4/9/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Herd Clinches Series With 8-6 Win Over Golden Flashes
4/9/2005
- Box Score
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. - Marshall scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back, topping Kent State, 8-6, Saturday at University Heights.
MU (10-16, 5-3 MAC) scored four in the first and two runs in the fourth and fifth innings to seal the win. Kent (16-12, 2-4 MAC) scored three runs through the sixth, but made a run in the ninth, putting the tying runs on base, but David Slovak (Louisville, KY) recorded the final out for his second straight save to finish off the win.
Since Marshall came back into the Mid-American Conference in 1998, KSU has owned the series with a 20-6 advantage. This is the first time since that time that the Herd has won at least two games in a season against the Golden Flashes. It also marks the first time that MU has won two games against Kent State since 1969 when it opened up the series that year with 4-2 and 5-3 wins.
Kent opened up the game by loading the bases on starter Chris Cummings (Huntington, WV). With one out, KSU notched two singles and on hit batter, but Cummings buckled down and got a strike out and pop out to get out of the inning.
The Herd offense also came out solid and took advantage of its early scoring opportunity. Adam Ptacek (Assaria, KS) and Adam Frederick (Franklin, PA) opened up the game with consecutive singles. Third in the order was Aaron Jamieson (Lindsay, Ont.), who delivered a two-RBI double to right to put MU on the board. Joe Glevenyak (West Palm Beach, FL) was hit by a pitch to reach and two batters later, Aaron Levinson (Seattle, WA) reached on an error to bring in the third run of the inning. After Bubba Pfaff (Florence, CO) walked to load the bases, Brent Mason (Sherwood, AR) hit a sacrifice fly to center to bring in the fourth run.
In the top of the second, KSU cut into the lead when Todd Balduf hit a solo home run to right. After a scoreless third inning, the Herd tagged KSU starter Chris Carpenter for two more runs in the fourth. The top of the order came through again as Ptacek walked and Adam Frederick reached on a bunt single. With two outs, both runners scored on a double to left by Roddy Stieger (Westchester, OH).
The Golden Flashes went to the bullpen in the fifth, bringing in Shane Curry, but he did not do much better, allowing two more runs to score in the fifth. In that inning, Brent Mason hit a one-out triple and would later score on a single by Nick Wolle (Coatesville, PA). Wolle advanced to third on Adam Ptacek's second hit of the day and would score when Adam Frederick hit a sacrifice fly.
KSU kept chipping away at the lead. They scored one run in the fifth and sixth innings to make it an 8-3 game. Chris Cummings pitched five innings, giving up three runs on five hits. In the sixth, Bryson Meyers (Oakland, MD) came in and pitched a scoreless inning, striking out two batters.
Brendon Bump (Lawrence, KS) replaced Meyers to start the seventh and cruised until the ninth. Down five runs going into the ninth, Kent State proved that they would not go down without a fight. With two outs and Chuck Moore on first, KSU made their run. Moore moved to second and would score on a single by Joe Tucker. Up next was Andrew Davis, who looked to hit the game-ending fly ball to center, but Adam Ptacek dropped it for his first error of the year. Tucker would score on the play to cut the lead to 8-5. After Drew Saylor singled to put two on, David Slovak was brought into the game. After giving up a hit to KSU DH Kurt Eichorn, he struck out Andy Hargrove to finish the game.
It marked Slovak's second save in as many days. Cummings got the win, his first of the season. Kent starter Chris Carpenter took the loss, falling to 3-2.
For the second day in a row, the first three in MU's lineup had stellar production. On Friday, Ptacek, Frederick and Jamieson went a combined 6-12 with five RBI's and four runs scored. In today's game, the same group once again went 6-12 scoring five of the eight runs and contributing two RBI's. All three batters registered two hits in Saturday's win. Roddy Stieger led MU with two RBI's. KSU catcher Todd Balduf led the Golden Flashes with a 2-4 day at the plate. He knocked in two runs and also scored once. Shortstop Emmanuel Burriss also went 2-4, scoring twice.
On Sunday, the Herd will look for the series sweep of Kent State. MU has never swept KSU in a series. The closest the Herd has come has been splitting seven two-game series and taking two of three in 1969. The game is set for a 1 p.m. start and can be heard on WMUL 88.1 or online at www.marshall.edu/wmul.
