Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
The Citadel
Baseball Edged by The Citadel, 4-1
2/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 27, 2010
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Shane Farrell tossed 6.0 innings with five strikeouts and Kurt Lipton launched his second homer in as many days, but the Marshall University baseball team fell short against The Citadel, 4-1, on Saturday afternoon at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park.
Herd starter Farrell and Bulldogs starter Matt Talley were locked in a classic pitcher's duel through the first five innings of action. The Citadel was able to put up a two-spot in the sixth and add two insurance runs in the eighth to claim the victory and improve to 4-1 on the season. The loss drops the Thundering Herd to 3-3.
Farrell worked his way out of trouble thanks to the arm of outfielder Ben Jurevicius in the second. David Greene flared a triple just out of the reach of Jurevicius to start the bottom half of the inning. The next batter, Kyle Jordan hit what appeared to be a sacrifice fly to plate the first Bulldog run of the day. Jurevicius lined up the catch and fired a strike in the air to catcher Thor Meeks for a double play, keeping the game scoreless.
Both Farrell and Talley matched each other pitch for pitch through the first five innings. Talley held the Herd hitless through the first five frames, until Kenny Socorro broke up the no-hit bid with a one-out double into the gap in right center. After Talley issued a walk to Isaac Ballou, the lanky lefty Bulldog was able to retire Josh Valle and Victor Gomez on groundouts to keep the game scoreless.
The Bulldogs finally were able to cross home against Farrell in the sixth inning. Matt Simonelli doubled in a run and would later score on a RBI groundout from Bryan Altman to hold a two-run cushion.
Kurt Lipton slugged his second homer in as many games with one out solo shot to left center to put MU within a run, 2-1, in the seventh.
A two-run eighth, highlighted by a RBI single from Greene upped the score to 4-1. Bulldog closer Drew Mahaffey pitched the ninth to earn his third save on the year.
Farrell (1-1) was the tough-luck loser as the righty chucked 6.0 innings surrendering two earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts.
Talley (1-0) picked up the victory working the first 7.0 innings allowing just one earned run on two hits with six punch-outs. Greene led the Bulldog offense with a 3-for-4 day at the plate.
MU wraps up tournament play with a game against St. Joseph's at 10 a.m. GameTracker will be available by logging onto HerdZone.com and video live streaming can be viewed at citadelsports.com.
