Marshall University Athletics
Baseball Downed By Cardinals, 17-4
5/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball Downed By Cardinals, 17-4
5/13/2005
- Box Score
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. - Ball State, the top offense in the Mid-American Conference, recorded 17 runs on 21 hits to open up their series against the Thundering Herd baseball team with a 17-4 win on Friday afternoon.
BSU (32-13, 16-4 MAC) was led by first baseman Brad Miller, who belted two home runs and had six RBI's in the win. Designated hitter Marc Franz was also solid, going 2-5 with a grand slam.
With the loss, Marshall drops to 15-30 overall and 7-12 in the MAC, putting a damper on its tournament hopes. The loss marks the second in a row for MU and the ninth out of the last 11 games.
The Cardinals offense was hot from the start, scoring a run in the first inning when Brad Miller hit a single to left, which was bobbled by Brad Helm (Downingtown, PA) for an error. Mike Sullivan, the BSU center fielder, scored on the play. The second inning saw the Cardinals tag Herd starter Jeremy Slone (Paintsville, KY) for two more runs in the second inning. RBI hits by Sullivan and shortstop Jason Bucholtz scored the runs.
Marshall's offense got on the board in the third inning, cutting the BSU lead to 3-2. Nick Wolle (Coatesville, PA) led off with a single, and quickly rounded the bases on a wild pitch and a throwing error. He would score when Adam Frederick (Franklin, PA) grounded out to short. The next two batters, Aaron Jamieson (Lindsay, Ont.) and Joe Glevenyak (West Palm Beach, FL) would record singles to put Tommy Johnson (Gaithersburg, MD) at the plate. Johnson would deliver a single through the right side to bring in Jamieson.
From that point on, though, Ball State controlled the play. Brad Miller got the offense back on the board in the fifth, driving a two-run home run to left field and in the sixth, he struck again, belting a three-run homer to deep center field to make it an 8-2 game.
In the eighth inning, the Cardinals did the most damage, scoring seven times in the inning to put the game out of reach. A single to left by Miller scored the first run and after three hits loaded up the bases, Marc Franz hit a grand slam to center. After a single by Jon Dollinger, pinch hitter Jon Byerly kept the long balls going, hitting the fourth home run of the game for BSU. Two more singles would be recorded in the inning, but no more runs would score.
Two more runs would score for the Cardinals in the ninth as Eric Earnhart and Byerly would bring in a run each.
As Ball State put up the offense, starter Joe Ness did his job, pitching seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He retired the final 13 batters that he faced. Luke Behning took over and pitched a scoreless eighth before giving up two runs in the ninth. Matt Helm (Downingtown, PA) reached on an error by the third baseman and with two outs, Roddy Stieger (Westchester, OH) continued his hot hitting, hitting a home run to center to double the MU run output in the game. It was too little too late, though, as the Cardinals took the game, 17-4.
The Marshall offense was held to four runs on seven hits in the game. Aaron Jamieson topped the team with two hits while five others registered one hit a piece. For Ball State, Mike Sullivan was 5-7 with three runs scored, Jason Bucholtz had a 3-4, two run performance, Brad Miller was 4-6 with six RBI's, Marc Franz went 2-5 with four RBI's and Jon Byerly went 1-1 with three RBI's and a homer.
Jeremy Slone struggled in his outing. He went 6 2/3 innings and gave up eight runs, seven of which were earned, on 13 hits. He took the loss and is now 1-3. Bryson Meyers (Oakland, MD) went 1 1/3 allowing seven runs on nine hits. Jamieson pitched the ninth inning and gave up two runs to the Cardinals. Joe Ness, who went seven innings for BSU, took the win, improving to 5-4.
Baseball will look to right the track on Saturday in game two against the Cardinals at 1 p.m.. It will be Kids Day at the Heights as all kids in baseball uniforms will have the chance to take the field with the Thundering Herd players prior to the game. Following the game, the Marshall players will stick around to autograph schedule posters.
Sunday will mark Senior Day as the five Marshall seniors will be honored prior to the game. Dr. Jose Ricard, the team doctor, will throw out the honorary first pitch before the game at 1 p.m..
