Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Ohio
Baseball Outlasts Ohio In Slugfest, 17-12
4/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 23, 2008
ATHENS, Ohio - Marshall University's Victor Gomez finished 4-for-5 with a home run and the Thundering Herd posted a season-best 22 hits and a season high in runs scored to help Marshall secure a 17-12 victory over Ohio in Wednesday evening's non-conference baseball game at Bob Wren Stadium.
With the win, Marshall evens its record to 20-20-1 overall, while Ohio slips to 19-20 on the season.
Trailing 14-8, Ohio used a three-run eighth, highlighted by a two-run home run and an RBI double, to pull to within two at 14-12.
Marshall extended its lead to 17-12 with a two-out bases-loaded double from Blake Sanders in the ninth and reliever Arik Sikula pitched the final 1.2 innings to earn his sixth save of the season.
Herd starter Justin Moore (3-2) pitched 5.1 innings and allowed six runs on six hits and whiffed three batters en route to his third win of the season. Ohio reliever Joe Stover (1-4) suffered the loss for the Bobcats.
Marshall got its offense going in the second with three straight singles from Gomez, Kurt Lipton, and Tommy Johnson. Jeff Rowley drove one through the right side for a base hit, scoring Gomez. Lipton was caught in a pickle and thrown out on the play, leaving Johnson at third, and Rowley on second (who advanced on the play). An infield groundout held the runners on before Matt Helm earned a two-out walk to load the bases for the second time in the frame, before starter Zach Fairbanks forced a fly out to left field to end the inning down just 1-0.
Ohio forged ahead 3-1 in the bottom of the second when first baseman Robert Maddox III was hit by a pitch. A one-out walk to Zach Hartle moved Maddox III to second before Gauntlett Eldemire laced a two-run triple off the wall in right center field. Zach Keen singled Eldemire home before a pair of walks loaded the bases for the Bobcats. An infield popup and a brilliant catch by Rowley on a rope to deep left center ended the inning.
One swing of the bat tied the game at 3-3 as Gomez picked up right where he left off from the weekend with his seventh home run of the season, a one-out two-run shot to deep left center field. Fairbanks used a strikeout and a groundout to get out of the third inning.
The Bobcats regained the lead with two runs in the bottom of the third when Trace Voshell doubled down the left field, advanced to third on a two-out single by Eldemire and then scored on a two-run single to center from Keen. Keen was then caught stealing second when Johnson fired a seed across the diamond to end the inning.
Marshall cut its deficit to 5-4 in the fourth when Helm drew his second two-out walk of the game, advanced to second on a passed ball, then scored on an RBI single through the right side off the bat of Adam Yeager. Yeager advanced to third on wild pitch and a throwing error on the same play, but could not come full circle.
Fairbanks left with no outs in the third for Stover. The starter pitched three innings and gave up three runs on seven hits and walked two batters.
The Herd took the lead in the fifth inning when Gomez and Johnson singled, before Rowley followed that with his third hit of the game, an RBI single to right center. Ben Jurevicius then knocked in a run with a base-hit up the middle, and following a hit batter to load the bases, Yeager singled hard to the shortstop to plate Rowley with Marshall's seventh run to make it 7-5.
Ohio clawed back with a run in the bottom of the fifth when Brandon Besl led off with a double to left field, advanced to third on a fly out to right field and then scored on an infield throwing error. Moore fanned the next batter to salvage the 7-6 lead.
Bobcats' reliever Cody Neyman replaced Stover in the sixth. Stover pitched two innings and allowed four runs on six hits and issued three free-passes.
Marshall extended its lead to 10-6 in the top of the sixth when Josh Valle walked and Kenny Socorro singled to lead off the inning. Rowley earned a free-pass to load the bases with two down before Jurevicius singled up the middle plating Valle and Socorro, and sending Rowley to second. Helm was hit by a pitch to pack the bases again for Yeager. Ohio reliever Kurt Smith came entered in favor of Neyman and gave up the bases loaded walk before inducing an inning-ending fly out to right field.
After Moore was lifted in favor of left-hander Ryan Kiel, Ohio rallied for two in the bottom half of the stanza when Matt Stiffler drew a one-out walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch and then scored on a double down the left field line by Jeremie Rehak. Marc Krauss plated Rehak with a single up the middle. Krauss moved to second on the play following an infield throwing error. After allowing a walk to Maddoox III, Kiel was lifted for Gatrell, who fired a strikeout to end the inning still leading 10-8.
The Herd pushed across three more runs in the seventh to post an 11-8 when Gomez doubled and scored on an RBI single by Socorro. Johnson ripped his third hit of the game, a double to dead center, sending Socorro to third before Smith was replaced by southpaw Mike Babin. After a harmless popup, Socorro scampered home with the Herd's 12th run on a wild pitch. After Jurevicius and Helm earned back-to-back two-out walks, a passed ball sent Johnson trotting home and moved the runners to second and third respectively but were stranded.
Leading 13-8, Brandon Casmassima singled, stole second and third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Victor Gomez to give the Herd a 14-8 lead.
Marshall returns to Conference USA action beginning Friday, April 25-27 for a three-game road series at UAB. Game time Friday is slated for 8:00 p.m. ET. Saturday's contest will start at 3:00 p.m. ET, with Sunday's series finale scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. ET start. The weekend rotation features left-hander Andrew Blain (2-3), right-hander Steve Blevins (5-2) and righty Dan Straily (3-2).
