Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
LeMoyne
Baseball Runs Past Le Moyne, 11-7
3/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 21, 2010
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall University baseball team stole nine bases and received a four-hit game from Kurt Lipton to move its way past Le Moyne College, 11-7 on Sunday afternoon at the Kennedy Center. The victory helped improve MU to 8-9, with Le Moyne falling to 8-11.
Lipton went 4-for-5 and scored two runs out of the cleanup slot to help propel the Herd offense to 11 total runs on 13 hits.
Kirby Pellant drove in four runs out of the leadoff position, while Thor Meeks and Eric Semeniuk each adding a pair of hits. Meeks added two RBI along with slugging a pair of doubles, while Eric Semeniuk tattooed a solo homer, his third of the season.
Rhett Stafford and Kenny Socorro each added impressive stat lines as the Herd avoided the four-game sweep to the flippers of the Dolphins. Stafford went 1-for-1 with a double, three runs scored, three walks and three stolen bases. Socorro did not record an official at bat by sacrificing twice, walking and scoring two runs.
Right-handed reliever Arik Sikula (3-2) picked up his third win of the season. He entered the game in the fifth in place of MU starter Ryan Kiel. The southpaw starter cruised through the first four innings before falling into trouble. Kiel did not allow a hit until the fifth, but a pair of hits, a Herd error and a walk ended the day for the redshirt senior.
Sikula chucked the next 3.0 innings with three strikeouts to hold off the Le Moyne offense.
The Herd scored the first run of the game thanks to a Dolphins error. Victor Gomez and Lipton hit back-to-back two-out singles to put Herd runners on the corners. Meeks hit what appeared to be a routine ground ball to second base to end the inning, but a poor throw allowed the Herd catcher to reach safely and take a 1-0 advantage.
MU tacked on three more runs in the second frame. After Stafford had scored on a throwing error, Isaac Ballou plated Socorro on a triple down the right-field line and later came home on a RBI groundout from Pellant to take a 4-0 advantage to the third inning.
In the third inning, the MU offense continued to fire on all cylinders. Le Moyne starter Jerome Werniuk (1-4) retired the first two batters of the inning, before Semeniuk smoked a solo homer to left center. Stafford followed by smacking a double and Socorro walked to end the outing for Werniuk. Reliever Tom McDermott was greeted with Ballou at the dish, as he promptly drew a walk. Pellant lined a two-run single give the Herd a 7-0 cushion.
After a four-run fifth for the Dolphins, the Herd added a run in bottom half of the inning on a RBI groundout from Pellant.
MU added a run in the sixth when Lipton scored on a Meeks liner that bounced off the center field wall for a double.
Meeks brought around Lipton for another RBI double in the eighth. He would later scamper home when he stole third base and scored on a throwing error by the Le Moyne catcher to round out the scoring for the Herd.
The Herd travels to Charlottesville, Va., to play ACC opponent Virginia on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
