Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Old Dominion
Two-Out Rally Leads Herd to 6-1 Victory
4/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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NORFOLK, Va. -- A career-high 8.1 innings from starting pitcher Chase Boster (Stafford, Va.) and a six-run fourth inning propelled Marshall baseball (12-24, 5-11 C-USA) to its second consecutive Friday night league win, after a 6-1 victory against Old Dominion (17-20, 5-11 C-USA).
Boster fanned five during the contest, and did not allow a hit until the fifth inning. Strong defensive plays helped him work into the late innings, as improved to a team-best 4-0 on the season.
All but three of Marshall's hits came in the fourth during an explosive two-out rally. Sophomore Corey Bird (Pinch, W.Va.) went 2-for-5 with an RBI and stolen base, and classmate Matt Reed (Purcellville, Va.) also collected two hits and an RBI.
The Herd started its threat early, leaving two men on in each the first and third innings. After two quick outs in the fourth, freshman Tyler Ratliff (Alexandria, Va.) doubled down the right field. Three pitches later, Reed singled him home, giving Marshall its first run of the game.
Junior Robert Fajardo (Miami) continued to keep the Herd at the plate after he laid down perfectly placed bunt down third that he beat out for a single and got Reed 90 feet closer to home. Bird then sent a ball right back up the middle to bring Reed home and give Marshall some insurance.
Senior Sergio Leon (Miami) reached on a Monarch miscue that allowed Fajardo to score, and then junior DJ Gee (Seattle) ripped a single to center field. Another ODU error allowed Bird to score and everyone to advance, putting runners on second and third.
After an ODU pitching change and walk to senior TJ Diffenderfer (Mount Juliet, Tenn.), junior Aaron Bossi (St. Louis, Mo.), who led off the inning with a groundout to shortstop, stepped to the plate for his second at bat of the inning. Bossi smacked a ball to centerfield, bringing home both Leon and Gee and giving the Herd a demanding 6-0 lead.
Boster maintained the shutout until the bottom of the eighth inning, when reigning Conference USA Player of the Week PJ Higgins led off with a double. After a dynamic double play from second baseman Bossi to first baseman Diffenderfer, another Monarch double scored Higgins and got ODU on the board.
Marshall returns to Bob Matheny Baseball Complex for the second game of the series Saturday. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.
WAGGONER'S WORDS
Link to Coach Waggoner's post-game interview
Chase Boster, Jr., Starting Pitcher
"The team really had my back tonight. They made really great plays in the field with multiple double plays. There were great plays by Sergio [Leon] at short, and I can't say this enough, but it's easy pitching behind them. I say that every week, but it's true. It was a great team win, and hopefully this gives us momentum to get the series win."
Aaron Bossi, Jr., Second Baseman
"I just love seeing us get huge hits with two outs. Those kill a pitcher's confidence and flatten out the opposing team mentally, so that was big for us. And, it was huge for Chase [Boster] to understand his task at hand and the uphill climb we have ahead of us. He just went out and executed pitches; he filled up the zone and kept his defense on our toes. It'll be tough to beat that team that showed up tonight."
