Marshall University Athletics
Baseball Set For Weekend Series At USF
3/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 5, 2009
TAMPA, Fla. - The Marshall University baseball team is set to face the University of South Florida for a three-game weekend set beginning March 6-8 in Tampa, Fla.
This weekend's series marks the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Friday's contest will begin at 7:00 p.m. ET and marks The Bulls' home-opener for the 2009 season. Saturday's game is also slated for a 7:00 p.m. start, while Sunday's first-pitch will be at 11:00 a.m.
This weekend's games can be followed via Live Stats which will be provided on the USF website, www.goUSFbulls.com.
The Thundering Herd (3-3) enter Friday's contest having had three of its last four games cancelled due to inclement weather, and had its most recent game, its home-opener at The Kennedy Center versus Morehead State, postponed due to darkness. Wednesday's contest with the Eagles was deadlocked at 4-4 after 12 innings before being called. The teams will resume that contest next Wednesday, March 11, prior to the regularly scheduled game. Both will take place in Morehead, Ky.
Marshall is led offensively by sophomore right fielder Ben Jurevicius, who has registered a .350 batting average (7-for-20) with five RBIs. The second-year player is also 3-for-3 in stolen bases, and has scored two runs.
Senior shortstop Adam Yeager comes into Friday's contest with a team-high eight hits and is hitting at a .320 clip. Yeager has tripled once and doubled twice in addition to stealing three bases.
The Herd have hit six home runs as a team, including two each from senior centerfielder Nate Lape, and freshman infielder/designated hitter Thor Meeks. Senior outfielder/infielder Brandon Casamassima, and sophomore infielder Victor Gomez have also provided long balls so far in 2009.
Red-shirt junior left-hander Ryan Kiel is 2-0 on the mound with a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings of work so far this season. The southpaw hurler has dealt a team-best 11 strikeouts including six in his first start, a 3-2 win over Old Dominion on Feb. 22.
Sophomore righty Arik Sikula has Marshall's other victory, a 9-3 victory over Akron in the season opener on Feb. 22. Right-handers Shane Farrell and Dan Straily have also been stellar on the mound for the Herd so far this season. Despite a 0-2 record, Farrell has pitched well, tallying nine punch-outs, including a collegiate-career high six against Tennessee Tech on Feb. 27. Straily started Marshall's game against Wake Forest on Feb. 27 and came away with a no-decision after pitching five strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits while fanning three batters.
USF enters weekend play with a record of 3-4 on the season that includes a 2-2 split in the Florida Gulf Coast Classic in its most recent action.
The Bulls offense is led by Chris Rey, who collected seven hits (five for extra-bases) during last weekend's action. Rey registered three doubles, one triple and one home run, along with eight RBI. He also scored four runs. He now has an overall batting average of .375 and leads the team with 12 runs driven in.
