Baseball Earns Shutout Victory Over UNCW

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WILMINGTON, N.C. – Herd baseball (4-4) takes a pitching duel with a 1-0 shutout over the UNCW Seahawks to close the Hughes Bros. Challenge with a 3-1 record.

"Overall, it was a great game by both sides," 13th-year head coach Jeff Waggoner said. "It started with Zac McNeel. He came out, pounded the zone and pitched to contact. Our hitters did a good job of listening to what we talked about. We tried to stay on top of baseball and make our outs on the ground. We played some situational baseball and played great defense."

Marshall starting pitcher Zac McNeel led the charge for the Herd throwing a scoreless 4.2 innings while allowing just two hits and four walks to go with four strikeouts in the victory.

"It felt great to get back out there today and see the guys work hard," McNeel said about getting back on the mound after last weekend. "It feels great to get back to .500 and to be playing some good baseball. It was a huge confidence booster for myself and the team."

Patrick Murphy came on in relief of McNeel with a runner at third and forced the Seahawks' Weiss into a ground out to keep the game scoreless after five innings of play.

Murphy proceeded to record two scoreless innings while giving up just one hit and was the eventual winning pitcher, earning his first win since returning from surgery that kept him out all of last season.

In the top of the sixth, Erik Rodriguez led off with a walk and recorded his second stolen base of the season with Shane Hanon at the plate. Then, Hanon smacked a single to center to bring home Rodriguez, the only run scored in the game.

Robert Kwiatkowski came on in relief of Murphy in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and a runner on second. Kwiatkowski walked the first batter he faced, but set down the next Seahawk with a strikeout to preserve the 1-0 lead.

"The bullpen came in and did their job," Waggoner said. "They're tough minded guys. They come in and pound the zone. They have great stuff and it was fun to watch those guys come in and get the job done."

In the bottom of the eighth, UNCW collected a one-out triple and seemed poised to tie the ballgame. With the infield in, the next batter hit a grounder to first baseman Jaren Lovely, who caught the Seahawk runner leaning and threw him out at third base. Kwiatkowski struck out the next batter to head to the ninth with Marshall leading 1-0.

"It was a great play and he (Lovely) hasn't been playing much first base. He was playing with some confidence and taking some great at-bats and we played great defense all-around," Waggoner said.

Reliever Michael Guerrero retired UNCW 1-2-3 in the ninth, including ending the game with a strikeout, to help the Herd finish the shutout and earn his first save with Marshall.

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Marshall will play its home opener on Friday Mar. 1st against Binghamton at 2 p.m.

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Team Stats

Erik Rodriguez

Zach Inskeep

Geordon Blanton

Shane Hanon

Players Mentioned

Michael Guerrero

Shane Hanon

Robert Kwiatkowski

Jaren Lovely

Zac McNeel

Patrick Murphy

Erik Rodriguez

Players Mentioned

Michael Guerrero

Shane Hanon

Robert Kwiatkowski

Jaren Lovely

Zac McNeel

Patrick Murphy

Erik Rodriguez

Marshall University Athletics