Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Baseball Set For Tuesday Doubleheader With Kent State
3/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 17, 2008
MONTGOMERY, W.Va. - The Marshall University baseball team will square off against Kent State, Tuesday, March 18 in a non-conference doubleheader at West Virginia Tech.
The teams will play a pair of seven-inning games with the first-pitch of the first contest set for 12:00 p.m. The series will be completed with the second game of the doubleheader and no game will be played on Wednesday due to forecasted inclement weather.
Marshall enters Tuesday action with an overall record of 8-6 and is fresh off a pair of three-game sweeps against Valparaiso and VMI. The road sweep of VMI was the first for Marshall since the 2006 season when the Herd dispatched of UAB.
Junior center fielder Nate Lape was tabbed as this week's baseballnews.com Louisville Slugger's National Player of the Week, and Conference USA Hitter of the Week as announced by the conference office Monday.
Lape led Marshall to a 6-0 week and its first six-game winning streak since the 2004 season by batting .542 (13 hits in 24 at-bats), including five home runs, three doubles and 11 RBIs. Lape also scored 12 runs, stole a pair of bases and drew two walks to help Marshall to a pair of three-game sweeps over Valparaiso and 2007 NCAA Regional participant VMI on the road.
Lape is the team leader in almost every offensive category for the Herd this season. In 14 games, he has a .509 overall batting average, a 1.075 slugging percentage, eight home runs, and 20 RBIs, six doubles, 24 runs scored and is 4-for-5 in stolen base attempts.
After games played this weekend, junior right fielder Kurt Lipton and sophomore first baseman Josh Valle are each on six-game hitting streaks.
Freshman catcher/designated hitter Victor Gomez is on a five-game hitting streak, while junior shortstop Adam Yeager is on a four-game hitting streak. Senior left fielder Jeff Rowley is on a three-game hitting streak.
In addition to hitting in five straight games, Gomez tallied his first collegiate home run and triple against VMI this weekend.
Herd pitchers Andrew Blain (LHP) and Steve Blevins (RHP), each went 8.0 strong innings in their respective starts against the Keydets and each tallied seven scoreless innings in those starts.
Freshman right-hander Ian Kadish will make his first collegiate start in Tuesday's first game. Kadish has a 1-1 record in six relief appearances so far this season. The first-year pitcher has tossed 7.2 innings and generated a 2.35 ERA, while surrendering just four runs on nine hits and striking out four.
Kent State enters Tuesday's games with an overall record of 4-10. Sophomore outfielder Anthony Gallas leads the way for the Golden Flashes, batting .347 with four doubles, two home runs and eight RBIs in 14 games.
Freshman outfielder Ben Klafczynski is batting .317 with four doubles, a pair of long-balls, seven RBIs and is slugging at a team-best .561 clip. The first-year player is also 1-1 in stolen base attempts so far in 2008.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Kyle Smith is 2-1 in four starts for Kent State and has a 6.10 ERA. The second-year hurler has pitched 20.2 innings so far this season and has registered 13 strikeouts. He has given up 17 runs on 24 and issued 14 free passes.
The Herd will open up C-USA action following the midweek doubleheader against Rice, beginning Friday, March 21 for a three-game set. Friday's game is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start at Appalachian Power Park in Charleston, W.Va.
