Marshall University Athletics
Baseball Takes on Buffalo in East Bank, W.Va.
3/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 2, 2007
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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall baseball team opens its home schedule at noon Saturday with a doubleheader against Buffalo at Epling Field in East Bank, W.Va. Please note the new game location. Because of the recent weather, Marshall's normal home field, University Heights Field, is not yet ready for play.
The teams also will play a noon doubleheader Sunday. Both doubleheaders will consist of a nine-inning game followed by a seven-inning contest.
Both teams are looking to get games in after being plagued by poor weather last weekend. Marshall had its four-game set with LaSalle cancelled because of the incoming weather threat in Huntington and Philadelphia. Buffalo played two of its scheduled games at Nevada last weekend, but the final two games were cancelled because of snow, and the Bulls were unable to get out of Reno until Wednesday after the winter weather altered their travel plans.
Marshall (2-2), playing its first game in 10 days, dropped a 2-0 contest Wednesday at West Virginia Tech, as Golden Bear righthander Marty Weisler threw a complete-game no-hitter. He walked five and struck out six. Weisler's performance overshadowed a strong pitching display from the Marshall staff. The Thundering Herd used seven pitchers who combined to allow just one earned run and five hits in their seven innings of work. Three Marshall pitchers - starter Adam Kuhr (Jr., Mason, Ohio) and freshman relievers Sean Rigney (Lancaster, Pa.) and Tyler Gatrell (Ashland, Ky.) all made their first career appearances. Kuhr tossed two scoreless innings, and each of the six relievers threw one frame.
Overall, the pitching has been solid for the Thundering Herd. Marshall comes into the weekend with a 3.97 earned run average while allowing just two earned runs over its last 22 innings. The Herd has used 10 of its 12 pitchers during that stretch.
Buffalo is 1-2 after losing two games (13-3/6-2) at Nevada last weekend. James Piazza leads the Bulls with a .444 batting average, while Chris Ciesla paces the team with four RBI. Buffalo's head coach is Ron Torgalski (Hamilton College, `89), who is in his first season as UB's skipper. Former Marshall assistant Jim Koerner returns this week as an assistant coach for the Bulls. He coached the last two seasons at Marshall while earning a master's degree.
The two teams met last season at University Heights, with Marshall taking three of the four games. After losing the opener, 8-7, the Marshall offense exploded and outscored Buffalo 43-19 over the final three games. Marshall leads the all-time series, 13-8.
Marshall returns to play Wednesday with a 3 p.m. contest at Morehead State.
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Directions to West Virginia Tech (Montgomery, W.Va.) from Huntington
• Take I-64 EAST to Charleston
• Merge onto I-77 SOUTH/I-64 EAST
• Continue on I-77 SOUTH/I-64 EAST (WV Turnpike) to Chelyan/Cedar Grove (exit 85)
• Proceed across Admiral T.J. Lopez bridge to ROUTE 60 EAST
• Turn right onto US ROUTE 60 EAST
• Continue on US 60 for approximately 12 miles
• Turn right at Montgomery exit and cross the bridge to ROUTE 61
• Turn left at the end of the ramp off bridge onto ROUTE 61. WVU Tech is on the left.
