Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
West Virginia
@HerdBaseball Falls at West Virginia
4/4/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The Marshall baseball team suffered a 14-7 setback in its midweek contest against the West Virginia Mountaineers Tuesday evening at Monongalia County Ballpark.
The Thundering Herd drops to 12-14 overall, while the Mountaineers improve to 16-10 overall. Junior pitcher Brad O'Connor (1-3) suffered the loss. West Virginia's Isaiah Kearns (4-0) collected the win and Sam Kessler earned his first save.
Marshall third baseman Tyler Ratliff wasted no time putting the Thundering Herd on the board. The junior hit a solo home run to left field with one out in the top of the first inning.
West Virginia responded in the following half inning with two runs of its own. After Ivan Gonzalez reached on a throwing error by Will Ray, Jackson Cramer hit a two-run homer that just cleared the leaping glove of Cory Garrastazu at the right field wall.
The offensive outburst by Marshall continued in the second inning. Shane Hanon led off with a single to center field, extending his hit streak to 10 games. Later in the inning, Reynaldo Pastrana hit a liner back up the middle that ricocheted off the West Virginia pitcher and rolled down the left field line. The misdirection allowed Hanon to come around to tie the game from first and Pastrana reached second base safely. Billy Sager gave Marshall the lead with a single to left field that drove in Pastrana.
West Virginia went on to capture the lead again and pull away from the Thundering Herd in the second and fourth inning. The Mountaineers pushed across three runs from two RBI singles and a Herd throwing error in the second inning. WVU took an 11-3 lead after scoring six runs on seven hits in the fourth.
Marshall attempted to begin a rally in the top of the sixth inning by scoring four runs. Ratliff led off the frame with his second solo home run of the game to left field. It was Ratliff's sixth homer and team-high 29th RBI of the season. Following Ratliff's home run was three consecutive singles from Tommy Lane, Hanon and Garrastazu. Lane came around to score on a wild pitch, while Hanon and Garrastazu moved up one base, Hanon touched home plate during the next at-bat after a throwing error by the WVU catcher. Garrastazu cut the West Virginia to 11-7 by scoring on a Sager triple to center field.
The Mountaineers closed the game by scoring a run in the seventh and two runs in the eighth.
Marshall was led at the plate by Ratliff, Hanon and Sager. Ratliff had his first multi-home run game of his career by going 2-for-4. Hanon was 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Sager was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Starting pitcher Brad O'Connor pitched 3.2 innings and allowed 11 runs on 11 hits. Nine of the runs were earned. He had two strikeouts. Jacob Niggemeyer, Hunter Sexton and Jacob Bradley combined for 4.1 innings in relief. Niggemeyer tossed 3.1 innings and allowed one run on four hits. Niggemeyer had a career-high seven strikeouts. Bradley pitched one inning and had a strikeout.
Marshall returns to action Wednesday night by hosting the Virginia Tech Hokies at Appalachian Power Park in Charleston, W.Va. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
