Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Lehigh
Boster Leads @HerdBaseball Past Lehigh
3/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - In the first home game of the season, senior right-hander Chase Boster (Stafford, Va.) delivered a strong pitching performance Saturday afternoon, leading Marshall baseball to a 4-2 win over Lehigh at Kennedy Center Field.
With the win, the Herd improved to 2-5 overall, while handing the Mountain Hawks (3-1) their first loss of the season.
Boster (1-1) allowed one earned run in eight innings, picking up six strikeouts and allowing three hits. The senior dropped his ERA from 12.91 to 6.89. Boster's three hits allowed, two runs and one earned run are all season lows, while six strikeouts are a season high.
Marshall struck first in the bottom of the first inning as junior Corey Bird (Elkview, W.Va.) earned a leadoff walk. Bird stole second and advanced to third on a DJ Gee (Seattle, Wash.) groundout. With Sam Finfer (Bellevue, Wash.) at the plate, Bird came around to score on a passed ball.
After three innings of dominating play on the mound from both pitchers, Lehigh reached the run column in the top of the fifth. With runners on second and third and two outs, Mackey Price hit a high chopper to second that scored the runner from third. A Gee error on the play allowed the Lehigh runner from second to score.
Trailing by one and being held hitless since the first inning, Marshall's bats awoke in the bottom of the eighth with three hits that resulted in three runs.
After Robert Fajardo (Miami) worked a walk, Bird laid down an intended sacrifice bunt, but beat out the throw for a hit to give the Herd runners on first and second with no outs. In the next at-bat, Finfer singled to right to score Fajardo from second. Marshall then picked up breathing room as Tommy Lane (Pendleton, Ore.) singled to left field to score Bird.
In the top of the ninth, Marshall called upon junior Burris Warner (Auburndale, Fla.) for the save. Warner tossed one inning with one hit and one strikeout.
Lane led the way for the Herd at the plate with two hits, while Bird, Finfer, Aaron Bossi (St. Louis, Mo) and Ryne Dean (Fresno, Calif.) each had one.
COACH'S CORNER
Quotes from Coach Jeff Waggoner
On Chase Boster's performanceââ'¬Â¦
"Chase is a battler. He's a senior, who's had a lot of success here. He hasn't pitched really well in first two starts, but I knew we put in a lot of work this week and changed some things on the way he was pitching, and I knew he'd get back to the Chase Boster we know and the leader he is on and off the field."
On today's gameââ'¬Â¦
"Chase did a great job keeping us in the ballgame. The team just battled and gave us a chance to win late. We made some plays and the offense did a good job late in the game to get some runners on and moving them over.
UP NEXT
Marshall returns to the Kennedy Center Field today for a doubleheader against Lehigh, scheduled for a 10 a.m. start.
