Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Ohio
@HerdBaseball Drops 4-1 Decision to Ohio
3/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall baseball dropped a 4-1 decision on Wednesday at the Kennedy Center Field on route 2 to the Ohio Bobcats.
With the loss the Herd drops to 4-6 on the season, while Ohio moves to 5-7.
The game went scoreless through the first inning, but the Bobcats found a way to break the tie in the top of the second. Ohio led off with three straight singles to load the bases with no outs. After a pop out to the second baseman, the Bobcats' Tyler Finkler hit a sac-fly to the right field to give themselves a 1-0 lead.
In the follow inning, Ohio put two more runs across the plate on two hits, including a double to left field.
The Bobcats added another run in the top of the seventh when it led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Later in the inning, the led off hitter, Mitch Longo scored off a single through the right side of the infield.
Marshall attempted a rally in the bottom of the ninth, as Cory Garrastazu (Miami) singled up the middle. An error by the second baseman that trickled into the outfield allowed Garrastazu to advance to third, while Andrew Zban (Huntington, W.Va.) was safe at first. Two at-bats later, Corey Bird (Elkview, W.Va.) grounded out to the pitcher, but scored Garrastazu from third. With the tying run in the on-deck circle, DJ Gee (Seattle) grounded out to the second baseman to end the game.
Claiming the win for the Bobcats was Logan Jacik, while in his first collegiate start Joshua Shapiro (Columbus, Ohio) picked up the loss. Shapiro went 4.1 innings with three earned runs on seven hits and one strikeout. Heston Van Fleet (Kingsville, Texas) had a strong relief outing, who went 3.2 innings with one earned run and five hits allowed.
At the plate, Bird and Aaron Bossi (St. Louis, Mo.) each had two hits for Marshall. Tommy Lane (Pendleton, Ore.), Tyler Ratliff (Alexandria, Va.), Garrastazu and Leo Valenti (Olympia, Wash.) each had one. With recording a hit on Wednesday, Bossi and Lane improved their hit streak to eight, while Ratliff moves to seven straight games.
The Herd returns to action Friday, March 11 at the Kennedy Center Field for a four-game series against the Brown University Bears. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
