Marshall University Athletics
WVSU Takes 16-9 Win Over Baseball
5/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WVSU Takes 16-9 Win Over Baseball
5/4/2005
- Box Score
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. - West Virginia State tagged the Thundering Herd for 16 runs on 19 hits for a 16-9 win on Wednesday at University Heights.
The Yellow Jackets (36-13) were lead by right fielder Justin Gray, who was 4-6 with six runs batted in and three runs scored. Second baseman Ryan Taylor also had a stellar day at the plate, going 3-5, scoring five runs and knocking in five more.
Marshall (13-26, 6-9 MAC), down 14-5 entering the eighth, made a comeback attempt, scoring four times in the inning, but left the bases loaded and was unable to mount a comeback in the ninth.
WVSU got off to a fast start off of MU starter Brian Knippelmeyer (Lincoln, NE), scoring six runs over the first 3 1/3 innings. In the first, Kevin Goode got the scoring started with a solo home run to right field. In the second, Justin Gray started the inning with another solo shot to left field. Another run would score in the inning on a Nick Wolle (Coatesville, PA) error. An RBI double by Jonathan McDowell in the third gave them four runs.
The Herd kept things close, scoring two runs in the second on a two-run home run by Roddy Stieger (Westchester, OH). In the bottom of the third, MU scored its third run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Joe Glevenyak (West Palm Beach, FL).
That run was stopped short as WVSU would score four times in the fourth inning to extend their lead to 8-3. After the bases were loaded with one out, David Slovak (Louisville, KY) entered the game in relief of Brian Knippelmeyer. He came in to face Ryan Taylor and Taylor got the best of that battle, belting the first pitch over the left field fence for a grand slam.
Roddy Stieger got the Herd one run closer in the bottom half of the fourth with an RBI groundout, but WVSU would score four times over the fifth and sixth innings, extending their lead to 12-4.
An Aaron Jamieson (Lindsay, Ont.) single would put the fifth run of the game on the board for MU, but after a scoreless seventh inning, the Yellow Jackets had two more runs cross the plate in the top half of the eighth.
In the bottom of the inning, MU had its top offensive output of the game, sending ten batters to the plate and scoring four runs. With one out and two on, Brad Helm (Downingtown, PA) recorded his second double of the day to bring in one run. A sacrifice by shortstop Brent Mason (Sherwood, AR) knocked in the second run of the inning to bring up Roddy Stieger, who brought in his fourth run of the game with a single through the left side.
Freshman Tommy Johnson (Gaithersburg, MD) kept the run going when he was issued a two-out walk. Nick Wolle loaded up the bases when he was hit by a pitch and the next batter, Adam Ptacek (Assaria, KS) was given the third walk of the inning to bring in the fourth run of the inning and keep the bases loaded for Adam Frederick (Franklin, PA), but Frederick would end the inning on a fly ball to left field.
In the ninth, WVSU scored two more times to make it a 16-9 game and would take care of the Herd in the bottom of the inning to finish off the win.
Knippelmeyer took the loss for Marshall, falling to 2-7 on the season.
The Herd offense came alive a bit too late, scoring the majority of its runs in the four-run eighth inning. They mustered up ten hits on the day, led by Glevenyak, Helm and Stieger, who each had two hits. Stieger led the way for the Herd with four RBI's. The West Virginia State offense tallied 19 hits and had stellar days from right fielder Justin Gray, who had six RBI's and Ryan Taylor, who scored five runs and had five RBI's.
For Marshall, it marks its fifth loss in a row. The Herd will look to turn things around when it hosts Akron in a crucial three-game series starting on Friday. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at University Heights.
