Marshall University Athletics
Baseball Travels to Athens, Ohio Wednesday
3/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- A storied rivalry will be renewed Wednesday, March 25, when Marshall baseball (7-15) travels to Athens, Ohio, to face former Mid-American Conference rival Ohio (12-8) at Bob Wren Stadium at 6 p.m.
The game will be the 159th all-time meeting between the two. The Herd has won the last three consecutive years, and has won five of the last nine meetings.
Last season, Marshall defeated the Bobcats 2-1 in Huntington in walk-off fashion, when now-senior Andrew Dundon (Lincoln Park, N.J.) hit a two out single in the bottom of the ninth, and scored the game winning run off a double one pitch later.
Live stats will be available via GameTracker, and fans can follow @HerdBaseball for in-game updates.
HAVE YOU HERD?
The Herd is coming off its first win in Conference USA play, defeating UAB 7-6 in 11 innings last weekend in Birmingham, Ala.
In that contest, sophomore Corey Bird (Pinch, W.Va.) went 4-for-5 with two runs. The outfielder is currently third on the squad with a .319 batting average, second in stolen bases (5), and first in hits (30). Bird's seven game hitting streak was snapped in Marshall's 2-1 loss Saturday evening to UAB.
THE MOUND MAKEUP
Herd lefty Callaway Kirkpatrick (Aledo, Texas) will make his fifth start of the season on Wednesday. He will go against fellow southpaw Evan Geist.
Kirkpatrick (6.10 ERA, 0-4, 5 app, 4 GS, 20.2 IP, 23 H, 17 R, 9 K, 8 BB) vs. Geist ( 2-2, 6.95 ERA, 6 APP, 5 GS, 22.0 IP, 18 H,18 R, 26 K, 25 BB)
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Ohio has already surpassed its season win total from a year ago (11-40), and is coming off a series loss to open MAC play against Central Michigan. The Bobcats, however, took the opening game 6-4, picking up their first win in a MAC opener since 2012. Sophomore Mitch Longo leads the squad, pulling in a .379 batting average with 33 hits and 18 RBI.
UP NEXT
Marshall will play its Appalachian Power Park opener this weekend, welcoming C-USA foe FIU to Charleston, W.Va., for a three-game series beginning Friday, March 27.
