Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Memphis
Baseball Thunders Past Memphis In C-USA Tournament, 10-7
5/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 27, 2010
HOUSTON - The No. 4 Marshall University baseball team kept its Conference USA Championship hopes alive by scoring five runs in the first and receiving two late insurance runs on homers from Victor Gomez and Thor Meeks to hang on and defeat the No. 3 University of Memphis 10-7 on Thursday afternoon at Cougar Field.
The victory evened Marshall's (27-30) record to 1-1 in the C-USA playoff pool format by knocking of Memphis (27-30) along with ending the 2010 season series square at 2-2. The Herd fell to Houston 11-7 on Wednesday night to open tournament play.
One day after not registering a base hit until the sixth inning against the Cougars, the MU lineup exploded for five runs on five hits to chase Memphis starter Ryan Holland (1-6) after only recording one out in the top of the first.
Kirby Pellant started the merry-go-round on the bases by being plunked on a Holland offering. The Herd strung together three-straight hits, including doubles from Rhett Stafford and Victor Gomez sandwiched around a RBI bloop single from James Lavinskas. Holland finally retired a batter after the first four batters had reached base for the Herd prior to Thor Meeks stepping to the dish. Batting sixth in the MU lineup, the catcher delivered a two-run double to right-center. Later, Isaac Ballou served a single to right to plate Meeks with the fifth run of the frame.
The Tigers offense clawed its way back, striking for two runs in the bottom of the stanza against Herd hurler Ian Kadish (4-6). Chad Zurcher launched a homer to get the ball rolling and a RBI single from Rick Russell produced the runs for the Tigers.
MU kept the pressure on the Tigers as Stafford tallied his second hit in as many at bats to start the second. Memphis reliever Dan Langfield tallied back-to-back punch outs in front of Stafford swiping second, advancing to third on an errant throw and touching home on a RBI single from Josh Valle.
The Herd expanded the cushion to six, 8-2, after a sacrifice fly from V. Gomez in the fifth and a RBI groundout by Pellant in the sixth.
Memphis made it interesting scoring three runs on five hits in the bottom of the fifth. Kadish had cruised after the first stanza, not surrendering a hit until the fifth, when the Tigers unleashed for three runs on five base knocks, highlighted by a two-run single from Rick Russell. Kadish received a highlight-reel diving catch from Stafford with two outs and two ducks on the pond to cling to an 8-5 lead.
After MU went scoreless in the top of the sixth, the Tigers knocked Kadish from the ball game and used a two-run double from Jacob Wilson to trim the Herd lead to one run, 8-7. MU reliever Tyler Gatrell struck out the next two batters swinging to escape without any further damage.
Meeks and V. Gomez each led off the seventh and eighth innings with towering homers to make for a three-run edge, 10-7. Meeks blast was his ninth long ball of the season, matching his season total from a season ago as a true freshman. V. Gomez's shot was a no doubt round tripper to leftfield, his 17th of the year and 46th of his career.
Ryan Kiel worked a perfect eighth out of the Herd bullpen, in front of closer Austin Coan. The bruising senior allowed a leadoff double in the ninth, but received a game-ending double play when Kirby Pellant caught a soft liner and flipped to Kenny Socorro to end the game. It marked the 12th save of the year for Coan and the 20th of his career, both school records.
Stafford finished the afternoon 3-for-6 with a double and three runs scored, while V. Gomez, Thor Meeks, Nathan Gomez and James Lavinskas each collected two hits apiece as the Herd posted 15 base knocks against the Memphis staff. Meeks and V. Gomez combined to drive in six runs in the win.
MU takes on top seed Rice at 4 p.m. EST on Friday afternoon on the diamond of Cougar Field. GameTracker and live video streaming is available at HerdZone.com, with radio broadcast through 930AM WRVC.
