Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Morehead State
Long Ball Leads @HerdBaseball Past Morehead State
4/26/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Final Stats | Box Score (PDF) | Postgame Video
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Marshall baseball team homered four times in its 13-11 win over the Morehead State Eagles on Wednesday evening at Allen Field.
The Thundering Herd improves to 20-21 overall with the victory. It was Marshall's first win at Morehead State since 2006. Relief pitcher Will Ray (2-2) earned the win by throwing two innings with three strikeouts. Matt Reed picked up his fourth save of the season. Marshall swept the season series over the Eagles.
Morehead State falls to 27-14 overall in the setback. The Eagles suffered just their second home loss of the season. Their first loss came on March 4 against Bowling Green in extra innings. Cable Wright (2-1) was credited with the loss.
Morehead State looked to set the tone in the top of the first. The Eagles plated three runs on five consecutive hits and a hit by pitch with the bases loaded.
Marshall pulled the game within one after scoring a pair of runs through the second and third innings. Reynaldo Pastrana got things started for the Thundering Herd in the top of the second inning with a single up the middle. He moved into scoring position after a Cory Garrastazu double to left center. Leo Valenti drove in the first run of the game with a RBI groundout to the shortstop. In the third, Ratliff led off with a solo home run to left-center field. It was his ninth homer of the season.
The Thundering Herd took the lead in the top of the fourth by scoring four runs. Marshall loaded the bases for Tyler Ratliff after a Tommy Lane single, Pastrana single and Valenti reaching on an error. Ratliff capitalized with a two-out three RBI double down the left field line. Finfer kept the inning going with a single to right field to score Ratliff.
Marshall's 6-3 lead was short lived, as Morehead State recaptured the lead with a five-run fifth inning. The Eagles were led by a Jimmy Wright two RBI single, a Brody Shoupe two RBI double and a Reid Leonard RBI single.
The Thundering Herd and Eagles traded three runs over the sixth and seventh innings. Finfer had a two-run homer to right field in the sixth, while Pastrana hit a solo homer in the seventh. Morehead State scored off a Shoupe RBI single and a Will Schneider two-run homer to left field.
Marshall rallied in the top of the eighth inning by scoring four runs with two outs. Finfer cut the Herd deficit to 11-10 with a single to left center that scored Ray from second. Hanon followed with a single through the right score, putting runners at first and second. Andrew Zban cleared the bases and gave Marshall a 13-11 lead with a three-run homer over the towering wall in right field.
Morehead State got the tying runner at first with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Reed forced an Eli Boggess ground out to clinch the two-run victory for Marshall.
"We had a great game plan coming in and our hitters stayed to it and did a great job putting up runs," head Coach Jeff Waggoner said. "Another thing too was our defense, we had no errors. We had to outplay them defensively, we couldn't let them have a big inning tonight and give any freebies away. We did a good job of keeping the runs down in the innings."
The Thundering Herd featured seven pitchers on the mound. Starting pitcher Mark Meyer only went one-third of an inning and allowed three runs on five hits. In relief of Meyer was Jacob Bradley, Brad O'Connor, Michael Gizzi, Hunter Sexton, Ray and Reed. Ray had a team-high three strikeouts.
All nine hitters for Marshall combined for 17 hits. Ratliff, Finfer and Pastrana each had three hits. Ratliff was 3-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored, while Finfer was 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored. Pastrana was 3-for-5 with a RBI and three runs scored. Zban had three RBIs.
Marshall visits the Old Dominion Monarchs for a Conference USA weekend series. The teams begin the series on Friday at 6 p.m., and continues on Saturday at 3 p.m. Sunday's game will be aired on ESPN3 at 1 p.m.
