Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Houston
Houston Defeats Marshall Baseball, 8-2
4/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 28, 2007
Marshall-Houston Gamebook
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CHARLSTON, W.Va. - Houston starter Wes Musick pitched seven innings and gave up only one run on five hits to lead the Cougars to an 8-2 win over Marshall at Appalachian Power Park in Charleston. The Cougars evened the series at one after the Herd won a 12-11 contest Friday night.
With the win, Houston improves to 24-18, 10-4 in Conference USA. Marshall drops to 18-23, 3-10 in league action.
Houston jumped on the board first in the top half of the opening frame with four runs, with two coming on unearned runs on two Marshall errors. The Cougars' Bryan Tully scored from second after an error by Herd shortstop Brandon Casamassima (Colleyville, Texas). Josh Stirneman then knocked in Jimmy Cesario with a single, who earlier singled and advanced to third on Casamassima's error. Dustin Kingsbury, who reached on the error, scored on an error by Herd third basemen Blake Sanders (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.), and the Cougars scored its fourth and final run of the inning when Stirneman scored on a sacrifice fly by Zak Presley.
Marshall responded with a run of its own in the bottom half of the first when Nate Lape (Huntington, N.Y.) scored on a Brendan Murphy (Chattanooga, Tenn.) single to make the score, 4-1. Lape, who walked to began the Herd inning with a walk, stole second, and advanced to third on a Brit Vincent (Bowling Green, Ky.) fly to center. Josh Valle (Brentwood, N.Y.) then hit a deep shot to center, which bounced off the warning track and over the fence for a ground-rule double, sending Murphy back to third. Tommy Johnson (Gaithersburg, Md.) then struck out looking to end the inning.
The first inning took 39 minutes to play, and the Houston half of the inning took 23 minutes.
Houston made the score 6-1 in the top of the third when Luis Flores homered over the left field wall, driving in Josh Stirneman, who singled, and the score moved to 7-1 in the top of the fifth when Bryan Pounds drove in Zak Presley, who reached on a fielder's choice.
The visiting Cougars added its eighth run of the game in the top of the seventh when Zak Presly doubled with two outs, stole third, and then advanced home on a throwing error by catcher Thad Ledford, who entered the game in the top of the inning for starter Tommy Johnson.
Marshall scored its second run of the game came in the top of the eighth when Blake Sanders (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) drove in Matt Helm (Downingtown, Pa.), who came in to run for Josh Valle (Brentwood, N.Y.), who walked to begin the inning.
Ryan Kiel (Los Gatos, Calif.) took the loss for the Thundering Herd and moved to 4-4 on the season. Kiel pitched three and one third of an inning, giving up six runs, four of them earned, on four hits. He also walked five batters. Adam Dobies (Pittsburgh, Pa.) pitched the rest of the way for the Thundering Herd and did a great job holding down the Cougars. Dobies pitched five and two thirds, giving up two runs, one of them earned, on five hits. He also struck out three batters.
Herd third basemen Blake Sanders was the only Marshall player with more than one hit. He registered two hits, both singles.
For Houston, three players had two-hit games, with catcher Luis Flores doing the most damage for the Cougars. Flores went 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBI. Josh Stirneman and Zak Pressley also had two hits four the visitors.
The rubber match of the series takes place Sunday morning at Appalachian Power Park. First pitch is set for 11 a.m.
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