Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Baseball Opens 2007 Campaign at Charleston Southern
2/14/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 14, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall baseball team lifts the lid on its 2007 season this weekend, traveling to Charleston Southern for a three-game series at Buccaneer Field in Charleston, S.C. The teams open the series at 2 p.m. Friday before playing 1 p.m. games Saturday and Sunday.
Marshall is under the direction of first-year head coach Jeff Waggoner, who came to Huntington after two years as an assistant at North Carolina State. The 1998 graduate of Cleveland State is assisted by Tim Adkins, Tim Donnelly and George Brumfield. The staff inherits a Thundering Herd squad which went 22-32 (6-18 C-USA) last year and lost seven of its nine starting position players as well as six key relievers, so 14 newcomers will be critical in filling those departures.
Brendan Murphy (Sr., Chattanooga, Tenn.) joins Brit Vincent (Sr., Bowling Green, Ky.) as the lone returnees to the starting lineup. Murphy has racked up several preseason honors, garnering Preseason National Collegiate Baseball Writers' of America (NCBWA) All-America distinction as well as All-Conference USA recognition. He also has been named to the 2007 Wallace Watch, which is presented annually to the national college baseball player of the year. He is the first Marshall baseball player to earn All-America honors since Jason Brooks nabbed Second-Team All-America laurels following the 2001 season.
Murphy, a 2006 Second-Team All-Conference USA and All-Mideast Region pick, hit .315 with 15 home runs and a league-leading 70 runs batted in last season. His RBI mark is the second most for a Marshall player in a single season, behind only Brooks' record of 73 in 2001.
Vincent, the Herd's regular starting right fielder in 2006, batted .301 last year with three homers and 21 RBI. He played in all but one of Marshall's 54 games.
Marshall is expecting to start Jeremy Slone (Sr., Paintsville, Ky.), Brian Chrisman (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Adam Dobies (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) over the weekend.
Charleston Southern is 4-0 entering a game Wednesday at city rival College of Charleston. The Buccaneers swept Delaware State in a three-game series last weekend. Wes Brunridge was the main power source with two homers, while Chad Krogmeier hit .600 (9-for-15) and Justin Fyle and Mark Perry each drove in six runs.
The Buccaneers are coached by Jason Murray. The 1997 graduate of Ball State is in his third year at CSU and sports a 46-67 career record entering the Wednesday game.
Charleston Southern leads the all-time series, 5-4. Marshall won the last game between the two schools, 8-6 in 13 innings, in 2004 in Charleston. Only two Marshall players, Chris Peak (Sr., Barboursville, W.Va.) and Nick Wolle (Sr., Coatesville, Pa.) remain from that squad.
Marshall begins its home schedule Feb. 24 and 25 with a pair of doubleheaders against LaSalle at University Heights Field.
