Marshall University Athletics
@HerdBaseball Travels to Florida Atlantic
4/13/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BOCA RATON, Fla. ââ'¬" The Marshall baseball team heads south to the Sunshine State to take on the Florida Atlantic Owls in a Conference USA three-game weekend series, beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. The series continues on Saturday at 4 p.m. and concludes on Sunday at Noon.
ON THE MOUND
Friday: LHP Joshua Shapiro (1-3, 3.98 ERA) vs. RHP Alex House (4-1, 4.56 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Wade Martin (3-1, 2.22 ERA) vs. RHP Marc Stewart (1-1, 4.55 ERA)
Sunday: TBA vs. LHP Jake Miednik (4-2, 6.26 ERA)
HAVE YOU HERD?
Marshall enters the series having won four consecutive games and six of its last eight contests. The Thundering Herd won its first Conference USA road series this season by taking two-of-three at the UAB Blazers last weekend. Marshall claimed the series by winning 2-1 on Saturday and 5-2 on Sunday. Sophomore pitcher Wade Martin tossed a career-high nine innings with seven strikeouts in the Saturday win. Martin lowered his ERA to 2.22, fourth lowest in conference. Andrew Zban was the hero on Sunday by going 2-for-3 with a two-run homer. The Herd picked up midweek wins this week over longtime rivals Morehead State and Ohio.
Shane Hanon, Tyler Ratliff and Sam Finfer have been the biggest threats at the plate for the Thundering Herd this season. Hanon holds a team-high .340 batting average with two home runs and 14 RBIs. Hanon currently has the longest hit streak this season for the Marshall with 16 games. Ratliff and Finfer are both hitting .291. Ratliff leads the Herd with 37 hits and 34 RBIs. Finfer and Ratliff lead the team with eight home runs each.
SCOUTING THE OWLS
Florida Atlantic (22-9-1, 9-3 C-USA) is currently tied for second with Old Dominion in the Conference USA standings, trailing Southern Miss by a game. The Owls have league series wins over Charlotte, Rice, UAB and Middle Tennessee. FAU picked up a non-conference win during the week over in-state rival UCF.
The Owls feature five players with a batting average over .300. They are led by sophomore infielder Tyler Frank with a .356 batting average and a team-high 31 RBIs. Florida Atlantic's Stephen Kerr leads all C-USA hitters with a .486 on-base percentage.
#OneHerd
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UP NEXT
The Herd welcomes in-state rival West Virginia to Appalachian Power Park on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Marshall returns to action the following night by traveling to Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio to face off with longtime rival Ohio at 6 p.m.
