Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Rice
No. 1 Rice Outlasts Baseball, 7-5
4/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 17, 2009
HOUSTON, Texas - Sophomore catcher Victor Gomez clouted his 12th homer of the season, a two-run shot in the top of the eighth inning to pull the Thundering Herd to within one at 6-5, but No. 1 Rice plated a run in the bottom of the eighth to help seal a 7-5 victory in Friday evening's Conference USA baseball game at Reckling Park.
With the loss, Marshall falls to 15-21 overall, 5-8 in league action, while Rice extends its all-time series lead to 10-0 over the Herd, moving to 26-9 on the season, 10-3 in conference play.
Trailing 7-5 in the top of the ninth, sophomore outfielder Ben Jurevicius legged out an infield single with one out before a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play ended the game.
Owls' starter Taylor Wall earned the victory and moves to 5-3 on the season, while Marshall starter Dan Straily suffered his first blemish of the season, falling to 3-1 overall. Reliever Jordan Rogers pitched the final 2.1 innings and earned his seventh save of the season, striking out five in the effort.
In the bottom of the second, Rice, ranked first in the Rivals.com poll, put across the first run of the game when Diego Seastrunk led off the frame with a walk before moving to second on a ripped single up the middle by Jimmy Comerota. Senior second baseman Adam Yeager made a brilliant play on the ball in shallow center, forcing Seastrunk to stay at second. From there, Craig Manuel laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners up 90 feet before Straily fired a strikeout. A wild pitch allowed Seastrunk to score the game's first run before Straily fired his second strikeout of the inning, avoiding further damage.
Rice used a single sandwiched between a pair walks to load the bases with one out before Seastrunk earned a base-on-balls, plating the Owls' second run of the contest. Manuel then laced a two-run single through the right side, giving Rice a 4-0 advantage. Ryan Lewis then dropped in a run-scoring single to left field, extending the lead to 5-0 before Straily fanned his fourth batter of the evening.
In the top of the fifth, Gomez broke up Wall's perfect outing when he doubled to right centerfield. Wall had retired the first 12 batters he faced before giving up the two-bagger to Gomez. From there, Wall issued a strikeout before a fly out by red-shirt freshman left fielder Rhett Stafford moved Gomez to third with two outs. Wall then induced a groundout to end the stanza, stranding the runner at third.
The Owls got back to work in the bottom of the fifth when Anthony Rendon was hit by a pitch to start the inning. He then raced to third on a single up the middle by Seastrunk before scampering home on a sacrifice fly by Comerota, increasing the lead to 6-0.
Senior lefty Andrew Blain replaced Straily to begin the bottom of the sixth frame and used a pair of groundouts and a foul ball fly out to retire the side in order.
Marshall crossed the dish in the top of the seventh frame when freshman outfielder Eric Semeniuk smacked a single to left field and then advanced to second on a one-out groundout. Stafford then drew a two-out walk before an RBI double to right field by senior first baseman Brandon Casamassima allowed both runners to score. Casamassima moved to third on a throwing error on the play before Jurevicius reached on an infielder error, scoring Casamassima from third, cutting the Herd deficit in half at 6-3. Sophomore shortstop Kenny Socorro then singled through the left side, chasing Wall from the game in favor of Rogers, leaving runners on the corners. From there, a foul ball fly out ended the frame.
Wall allowed three runs on five hits while striking out eight batters, fanning all three batters in the second in the process.
Gomez brought Marshall to within one run in the top of the eighth inning when he blasted a one-out two-run homer to right field, his 12th of the season, bringing the score to 6-5. Junior third baseman Josh Valle had led off the inning with a single through the right side before scoring on the long ball. From there, Rogers got out of the inning by striking out the next two batters.
Rice scored again in the bottom of the eighth when Michael Fuda singled through the right side, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Steven Sultzbaugh, advanced to third on a throwing error and then scored, lifting the score to 7-5. From there, a pair of groundouts ended the inning.
Gomez finished with two hits in the game, while Casamassima joined him with two RBIs, leading the Herd offense.
Blain tossed the final three frames, allowing one run (unearned) on just one hit in a stellar outing.
Marshall and Rice return to action, Saturday with first-pitch slated for 3:00 p.m. ET. Marshall will start freshman southpaw Greg Williams (1-2). He will face Owls' junior righty Mike Ojala (2-0).
