Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Baseball Invades East Carolina for Weekend Series
4/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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April 20, 2006
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall baseball team (16-17, 4-8 C-USA) hits the road for the second straight weekend in Conference USA play, traveling to East Carolina (25-14, 4-5) for a three-game series at Clark-LeClair Stadium in Greenville, N.C. The teams battle at 7 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday. The broadcast will be available online at www.ecupirates.com.
Marshall wraps up a season-long eight-game road trip this weekend. The Herd is 4-1 thus far, winning last Tuesday at Morehead State, sweeping a three-game series last weekend at UAB and losing 9-4 Tuesday at Virginia Tech.
Entering this week, Adam Frederick (Sr., Franklin, Pa.) is tied for second in Conference USA in batting at .388, just behind Memphis' Adam Amar at .397. He also is tied for the league lead in slugging percentage at .647, along with teammate Brendan Murphy (Jr., Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Amar. Rich Russell (Sr., Toronto, Ontario) continues to lead the league in on base percentage at .507, while Frederick is fourth (.459). Russell also leads the conference in hits by pitch with a school-record 16. Murphy is tied for third in home runs (8).
In the latest NCAA statistical rankings, Russell's HBP total of 0.5 HBP per AB also ranks third nationally this year, just behind Arizona's Colt Sedbrook at 0.56. Aaron Levinson (Sr., Seattle, Wash.) ranks 49th at 0.34. Brent Mason (Sr., Sherwood, Ark.) is 12th nationally in the toughest to strikeout category at 21.3 AB per strikeout and 18th in doubles per game (.41). Murphy is ranked 33rd in RBI per game (1.22) and 38th in doubles per game (.45). Frederick is 37th in runs per game (1.22).
As a team, Marshall is 11th in doubles per game (2.41), 21st in slugging percentage (.489) and 26th in scoring (7.8/game).
East Carolina leads the series, 3-0. The teams last met in 2004, with the Pirates taking an 8-2 decision in Greenville.
Marshall returns to University Heights Field Wednesday for a 3 p.m. contest with Eastern Kentucky. It marks the Thundering Herd's first game at the Heights since March 29.
