Marshall University Athletics
Baseball Opens 2012 Season with Trip to North Carolina
2/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 15, 2012
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Marshall baseball will open its 2012 regular season with a trip to North Carolina on Friday for games against NC State, Canisius, Bryant, and Monmouth.
The Thundering Herd will face the NC State Wolfpack at NC State's Doak Field at Dail Park on Friday at 3 p.m. ET in only the fifth meeting between the two programs. Saturday's schedule will move Marshall to the USA Baseball Complex in Cary, N.C. for games against Canisius (12 p.m.) and Bryant (3:30 p.m.). The Herd will then finish up on Sunday against Monmouth at 10 a.m.
Marshall is 1-4 all-time versus NC State, with the last meeting being a doubleheader in 2008. A year before that, Marshall swept Canisius in a three-game series with wins of 12-3, 8-7, and 6-5. This season will mark the Herd's first meeting between both Bryant and Monmouth.
Head Coach Jeff Waggoner will introduce 18 new faces - including 10 true freshmen -this season to fill in the gaps left by the 2011 squad that went 20-31 (7-17 C-USA).
Centerfielder Isaac Ballou is among the returners and enters his junior year looking to become Marshall's all-time leader in triples and stolen bases. Ballou tallied seven triples last season to help the Herd lead Conference USA with 10. The Smithville, Va. native currently ranks second on Marshall's list of triples leaders with 10 and is only one away from Jim Reynolds, who set the record of 11 in 1996.
Senior Mike Mason will make his return to the starting rotation for his final season where he looks to become the fifth ever Herd player with 200+ strikeouts. In 2011, he earned a career high 13 starts and pitched in a team-most 78.1 innings.
A variety of live stats, video, and radio will be provided for each contest along with an all new live in-game chat. Updates via Twitter will come through @Herd_Zone. For more information, visit the Marshall baseball schedule through http://www.HerdZone.com.
Complete tournament schedule:
Friday
1 p.m. - Wright State vs. Monmouth (Cary, N.C.)
1:30 p.m. - Youngstown State vs. Canisius (Cary, N.C.)
2 p.m. - St. Joseph's vs. Bryant (Cary, N.C.)
3 p.m. - Marshall vs. NC State (Raleigh, N.C.)
Saturday
11 a.m. - Wright State vs. Bryant (Cary, N.C.)
11 a.m. - Youngstown State vs. NC State (Raleigh, N.C.)
11:30 a.m. - St. Joseph's vs. Monmouth (Cary, N.C.)
12 p.m. - Marshall vs. Canisius (Cary, N.C.)
3 p.m. - Wright State vs. NC State (Raleigh, N.C.)
3 p.m. - Youngstown State vs. Monmouth (Cary, N.C.)
3:30 p.m. - St. Joseph's vs. NC State (Raleigh, N.C.)
3:30 p.m. - Marshall vs. Bryant (Cary, N.C.)
Sunday
10 a.m. - Wright State vs. Canisius (Cary, N.C.)
10 a.m. - Youngstown State vs. Bryant (Cary, N.C.)
10 a.m. - St. Joseph's vs. NC State (Raleigh, N.C.)
10 a.m. - Marshall vs. Monmouth (Cary, N.C.)
