Marshall University Athletics
Baseball Closes Out Regular Season at Tulane
5/16/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 16, 2012
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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Marshall's baseball team will conclude it 2012 regular season campaign with a trip to Tulane for a three-game Conference USA series at Turchin Stadium Thursday through Saturday.
Thursday and Friday start times are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET with the series to conclude Saturday at 2 p.m.
Marshall (15-36, 4-17 C-USA) is 6-14-1 in the all-time series with Tulane but 6-6-1 in the 13 most recent meetings. Among the 20 all-time decisions between the two programs, seven have been decided by a single run, and Tulane owns all but one.
The Thundering Herd will face the most gifted offense in C-USA as Tulane ranks as the team leader in batting average (.314), 16 points ahead of second-place UCF (.298). Seven members of Tulane's starting lineup hold averages over .300.
Junior middle infielder Brennan Middleton carries a .363 average for which he ranks second in the league in hitting (behind Memphis' Adam McClain). Four other members of the Green Wave rank in the top ten in C-USA in hitting, including Sean Potkay who also leads the conference in on-base percentage. Potkay has reached base this season at a ridiculous .491 rate.
A handful of Tulane pitchers are among the best in the conference. Reliever D.J. Ponder leads C-USA with saves recorded in league play (five) while he is second in overall saves (10). Ponder, a Baton Rouge, La. native, boasts a 0.63 earned run average over 42.2 innings of work.
Junior David Napoli represents the ace of the staff, having amassed a 7-2 record in ten starts. The southpaw ranks fourth in C-USA with a 2.40 ERA and 10th in the conference having limited opposing hitters to .233.
Tulane's offense has also pounded out a conference-leading 167 extra-base hits. The Green Wave's 41 home runs and 113 doubles are both tops in C-USA.
Entering the final weekend of regular season action, Isaac Ballou ranks 10th in C-USA in on-base percentage (.429). Marshall's lead-off man has also walked 40 times and stolen 20 bases (both rank second among league competitors).
Sophomore Aaron Blair has 77 strikeouts on the year, ranking fifth in C-USA.
Video stream, GameTracker, and live chat will all be available during the three-game series. Links to each can be accessed through HerdZone.com.
