Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
WKU
@HerdBaseball Rolls Past WKU on Friday Night, 8-1
5/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Marshall baseball (28-17, 17-8 Conference USA) was powered by the longball in its 8-1 win on Friday night at Nick Denes Field against the WKU Hilltoppers (24-25, 10-15 C-USA).
The Thundering Herd's 28 wins this season sits alone at second all-time for most wins in a season. The record of 30 wins was set in 2008. Marshall has now won 10 of its last 11 games in league play, while it's on a seven game win streak. The last time the Herd won seven games in a row was in 2010.
Senior outfielder DJ Gee (Seattle) got things rolling for the Herd with a solo home run to left-center field in the first inning. It was Gee's third homer of the season.
Marshall pulled away in the fourth with three runs off two hits. Ryne Dean (Fresno, Calif) led off with a single up the middle. In the following at bat, Sam Finfer (Bellevue, Wash.) was walked to put runners on first and second. Two batters later, Leo Valenti (Olympia, Wash.) hit a deep 3-run homer to left field. It was Valenti's third homer of the season, and his second in a week span.
The homers kept on coming for the Herd with a solo shot by Tyler Ratliff (Alexandria, Va.) in the top of the fifth inning. Ratliff now has eight home runs and is second on the team in RBIs with 35.
Marshall and WKU traded runs in the sixth. The Herd scored its run off a Tommy Lane (Pendleton, Ore.) groundout to second base that scored Valenti. The 'Tops pushed across its run off a single to right field.
The Herd scored two more insurance runs in the eighth off a Lane sacrifice fly and a wild pitch.
Starting on the mound for Marshall was senior Chase Boster (6-2). Boster went six innings and allowed one run on four hits and earned his fourth straight win. The Stafford, Va., native had three strikeouts. Boster has 18 career wins for the Herd, which places him tied for third all-time.
In relief of Boster was Heston Van Fleet (Kingsville, Texas) and Nicholas Newton (Powell, Ohio). Van Fleet went two innings with a strikeout, while Newton tossed the ninth inning with one strikeout.
The Herd was led offensively by Valenti. Valenti was 4-for-5 with three doubles, a 3-run homer and scored three runs. Lane had two RBIs. Dean and Corey Bird (Elkview, W.Va.) each had two hits. Bird set a new career high in stolen bases with four.
Kaleb Duckworth and Danny Hudzina tied for a team-high two hits. Ryan Thurston (3-5) suffered the setback after going 3.2 innings and allowing four runs.
COACH'S CORNER
Quotes from head coach Jeff Waggoner
On Chase Bosterââ'¬Â¦
"Another great outing by Chase Boster. He came out and got his three pitches going. He competed and was hitting both sides of the plate with his fastball. He gave us a chance to win and I'm extremely excited on how well he is pitching now."
On Leo Valentiââ'¬Â¦
"I couldn't be more proud of Leo [Valenti]. He has a lot of confidence right now. He's seeing the ball really well right now and he's putting good swings on the bat. He's doing a great job in the position he is at in the lineup."
UP NEXT
Marshall returns to Nick Denes Field for game two of the three-game series on Saturday at 2 p.m. (ET).
---HerdZone.com--
