Marshall University Athletics
Baseball Opens Up Conference USA Tournament Play Wednesday Night
5/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 25, 2010
HOUSTON - The Marshall University baseball club begins its Conference USA tournament journey on Wednesday night by taking on tournament-host Houston at 8 p.m. EST. The Thundering Herd will then take the diamond at Cougar Field on Thursday against Memphis for a 4 p.m. EST start, followed with a 4 p.m. EST tilt versus top-seed Rice on Friday.
MU sports the No. 4 seed in the tournament after finishing the conference season with a 12-12 record, the best in program history. The Herd was placed in a three-team pod with No. 1 Rice and No. 5 Houston, with a cross-over game against No. 3 Memphis sandwiched in between. The team with the best overall record in each of the two pods advances to the conference championship game, scheduled for 8 p.m. EST on Saturday.
The other pod consists of No. 2 Southern Miss, No. 3 Memphis and No. 6 East Carolina.
The Herd owns a 4-6 record all-time in the C-USA tournament, with all four victories coming in 2008.
GameTracker and video streaming will be available for all three games by logging onto HerdZone.com. Radio broadcast can be accessed on WRVC 930 AM with Steve Cotton and Ben Warnick calling the games.
No. 4 Marshall (26-29, 12-12 C-USA)
The Thundering Herd squad is spearheaded by the team and program's top-run producer, Victor Gomez. The junior catcher was recently named the backstop on the First Team All-C-USA team after an extremely productive third season at the plate. The Miami, Fla., native rocketed 16 homers along with 60 RBI to lead the Herd in both categories, while hitting at a .363 batting clip.
Head coach Jeff Waggoner picked another First Team All-C-USA selection in Arik Sikula to start game one for the Herd against the Cougars. The righty has made a seemingly flawless transition from the bullpen to a starter's role, producing a 6-4 record and a 3.33 ERA. Sikula served as MU's closer back in 2008 when the team made its historic run to the conference championship before falling to UH.
The MU bullpen has been utilized quite heavily during the 2010 campaign, as four Herd pitchers finished in the top-10 in total appearances in C-USA. Kyle Blank, a southpaw, saw action on the bump in 33 games this season, a school record, and finished tops in the conference in that statistic.
Tyler Gatrell pitched in 30 games and collected a 5-2 record, including four wins against C-USA opponents. James White III made his way into 29 contests, while closer Austin Coan worked 25 games and collected a conference-best 11 saves in 12 opportunities to set the MU single-season record.
Player to Watch: Victor Gomez, C
Against the three opponents slated for pool play in the C-USA tournament, Gomez produced a .412 (14-for-36) batting average against their pitching staffs. He launched three homers and collected nine RBI in a total of nine games played.
Game 1: No. 4 Marshall vs. No. 5 Houston, May 26
Location: Cougar Field - Houston, Texas
Time: 8 p.m. EST
Pitching Matchup: MU: Arik Sikula, RHP (6-4, 3.33 ERA) vs. UH: Michael Goodnight, RHP (6-7, 5.45 ERA)
2010 Series Record: Houston 2, Marshall 1
All-Time Record: Houston leads 14-3
No. 5 Houston (24-29, 11-13 C-USA)
The Cougars captured the series against the Thundering Herd, by taking two-of-three on May 15-16. UH owns an impressive 31-20 record in the C-USA tournament and has captured the league tournament championship on three occasions (2008, 2000, 1997).
UH relies heavily on small ball, as they connected for league-low 43 homers on the season. The Cougars did swipe the most bases (86-for-112) and put down the second-most sacrifice bunts (42) in the conference.
Player to Watch: Zak Presley, OF
Presley hit .444 (4-for-9) during the three-game series against the Herd this season, with six runs scored, six walks and was a perfect 3-for-3 on stolen bases.
Game 2: No. 3 Memphis vs. No. 4 Marshall, May 27
Location: Cougar Field - Houston, Texas
Time: 4 p.m. EST
Pitching Matchup: MU: TBA vs. MEM: TBA
2010 Series Record: Memphis 2, Marshall 1
All-Time Record: Marshall leads 8-7
No. 3 Memphis (27-28, 12-12 C-USA)
Memphis won the tiebreaker over the Herd to take the third seed thanks to winning a pair of games in a three-tilt series at Appalachian Power Park (April 2-3).
Four Tigers were named to the Second Team All-C-USA in Tyler Huelsing, Drew Martinez, Ryan Fraser and Chad Zurcher.
Memphis did hit an impressive .323 on the season, third in conference, but defense could play the biggest factor in the Tigers' success. On the season, Memphis committed 90 errors for a .952 fielding percentage, second-lowest in the league.
Player to Watch: Tyler Huelsing, OF
Huelsing produced an amazing series versus the Herd back in April. The senior went 9-for-16 with three homers and nine RBI. In the series finale, Huelsing went a mind boggling 6-for-6 with three homers and eight RBI.
Game 3: No. 1 Rice vs. No. 4 Marshall, May 28
Location: Cougar Field - Houston, Texas
Time: 4 p.m. EST
Pitching Matchup: MU: TBA vs. RU: TBA
2010 Series Record: Rice 2, Marshall 1
All-Time Record: Rice leads 14-2
No. 1 Rice (35-20, 17-7 C-USA)
The Rice Owls have been the cream of the crop in Conference USA since league realignment took place five years ago, winning three of the last four tournament championships.
Rice only had one player selected to the First Team All-C-USA, but six more were picked to the second team all-conference squad.
Anthony Rendon was named C-USA Player of the Year for the second-straight season. The sophomore third baseman smacked a league-best 22 homers along with knocking in 72 runs and scoring another 71.
Player to Watch: Diego Seastrunk, C
Rendon is clearly the biggest threat in the Rice lineup, but Diego Seastrunk went 6-for-12 with three doubles, one home run and four RBI against the Herd in 2010.
