Marshall University Athletics
Friday, April 12
Huntington, W.Va.
3 p.m.
Marshall University
19-14, 0
8
vs
2
WKU
15-16-1, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Western Kentucky
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
2
6
0
Marshall
1
3
3
0
1
0
0
0
X
8
9
0
Photo by: Cody Linn
Shapiro’s Strong Start and Clutch Offense Leads Baseball Over WKU in Game One
4/12/2019 9:05:00 PM | Baseball
Marshall wins 19th game, tying win total for 2018
Box Score
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Joshua Shapiro's quality start and a big day for the Herd's offense leads Marshall baseball (19-14, 7-6 C-USA) past Western Kentucky, 8-2, on Friday in game one of the series at the Kennedy Center.
Today also kicked off Cancer Awareness Weekend for the Herd. Marshall is wearing yellow ribbons on the side of its hats with Sophia written in them in honor of Evan Hurn's sister, who was diagnosed with leukemia a couple of weeks ago.
"Evan is a great kid and he comes from a great family. Our hearts go out to their family," 13th-year head coach Jeff Waggoner said about honoring Evan's sister this weekend. "We want his family to know we have his back. Marshall stepped up and was able to honor his sister for our awareness weekend. All the players got a hat with his sister's name on it and we hope the best for her and the family."
After Erik Rodriguez and Zach Inskeep each drew a walk to begin the bottom of the first for Marshall, Tucker Linder wasted no time extending his hitting streak to 18 games as he singled up the middle with one out to score Rodriguez giving the Herd an early 1-0 lead.
Marshall scored three more runs in the second as Geordon Blanton reached on a fielder's choice that saw Luke Edwards score from second when the Hilltopper second baseman didn't pay attention and the freshman took home without a throw.
Elvis Peralta followed that up with a two-out home run over the wall in right to put Marshall up 4-0 after two.
The runs kept pouring in for the Herd in the third as Linder scored on a wild pitch, Edwards singled home Rey Pastrana and Geordon Blanton brought Edwards home with a triple to make a 7-0 Herd advantage.
Shapiro was on fire through the first three innings as he retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced, with the one batter leading off the third with a single.
The Hilltoppers got on the board with a leadoff homer from Richard Constantine in the fourth, but the senior lefty struck out the next two batters and after giving up a walk, ended the inning with a flyout.
Peralta answered WKU in the bottom of the fifth as his two-out double to right brought home Rodriguez to make it an 8-1 ballgame.
Shapiro's night ended in the top of the eighth after loading the bases with no outs on a hit and two walks. He went 7.0+ innings of work giving up just two runs on four hits and three walks. Shapiro struck out six WKU hitters.
"The bats came out today and they've been putting up runs for me the last few weeks," Shapiro said about the offense helping him in his last few outings. "Going out there with a lead and being able to attack is huge. "
Bryan Callaly came on in relief. After Callaly struck out the first batter, Jake Sanford hit a dinker of the end of the bat to short to bring home the Hilltoppers second run of the game. However, he got out the jam as he got the next batter to line out to Peralta for a double play.
Callaly then allowed just a hit in the ninth as he closed out the ballgame for the Herd.
NOTES
Marshall took advantage of free passes, as Western Kentucky pitching walked nine Herd batters.
Peralta had a team-high three RBI in the contest as he went two-for-five with two extra-base hits.
Shapiro won his fifth game of the season, to lead the team.
Every Herd starter reached base.
Marshall's clutch hitting showed in the averages in key situations. The Herd hit .462 (6-13) with two outs, .400 (4-10) with runners in scoring position and .353 (6-17) with runners on base.
Peralta's homer was his fourth of the season.
Blanton tripled for the fourth time this season.
UP NEXT
Marshall will conclude the series against the Hilltoppers on Saturday with a double header beginning at 11 a.m. with Sunday's game being moved up due to a siginicant chance of thunderstorms.
For all the latest information about Marshall baseball, follow @HerdBaseball on Twitter and @HerdBSB on Instagram.
To follow all Thundering Herd sports and get live stats, schedules and free live audio, download the Marshall Athletics App for iOS and Android.
---HerdZone.com---
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Joshua Shapiro's quality start and a big day for the Herd's offense leads Marshall baseball (19-14, 7-6 C-USA) past Western Kentucky, 8-2, on Friday in game one of the series at the Kennedy Center.
Today also kicked off Cancer Awareness Weekend for the Herd. Marshall is wearing yellow ribbons on the side of its hats with Sophia written in them in honor of Evan Hurn's sister, who was diagnosed with leukemia a couple of weeks ago.
"Evan is a great kid and he comes from a great family. Our hearts go out to their family," 13th-year head coach Jeff Waggoner said about honoring Evan's sister this weekend. "We want his family to know we have his back. Marshall stepped up and was able to honor his sister for our awareness weekend. All the players got a hat with his sister's name on it and we hope the best for her and the family."
After Erik Rodriguez and Zach Inskeep each drew a walk to begin the bottom of the first for Marshall, Tucker Linder wasted no time extending his hitting streak to 18 games as he singled up the middle with one out to score Rodriguez giving the Herd an early 1-0 lead.
Marshall scored three more runs in the second as Geordon Blanton reached on a fielder's choice that saw Luke Edwards score from second when the Hilltopper second baseman didn't pay attention and the freshman took home without a throw.
Elvis Peralta followed that up with a two-out home run over the wall in right to put Marshall up 4-0 after two.
The runs kept pouring in for the Herd in the third as Linder scored on a wild pitch, Edwards singled home Rey Pastrana and Geordon Blanton brought Edwards home with a triple to make a 7-0 Herd advantage.
Shapiro was on fire through the first three innings as he retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced, with the one batter leading off the third with a single.
The Hilltoppers got on the board with a leadoff homer from Richard Constantine in the fourth, but the senior lefty struck out the next two batters and after giving up a walk, ended the inning with a flyout.
Peralta answered WKU in the bottom of the fifth as his two-out double to right brought home Rodriguez to make it an 8-1 ballgame.
Shapiro's night ended in the top of the eighth after loading the bases with no outs on a hit and two walks. He went 7.0+ innings of work giving up just two runs on four hits and three walks. Shapiro struck out six WKU hitters.
"The bats came out today and they've been putting up runs for me the last few weeks," Shapiro said about the offense helping him in his last few outings. "Going out there with a lead and being able to attack is huge. "
Bryan Callaly came on in relief. After Callaly struck out the first batter, Jake Sanford hit a dinker of the end of the bat to short to bring home the Hilltoppers second run of the game. However, he got out the jam as he got the next batter to line out to Peralta for a double play.
Callaly then allowed just a hit in the ninth as he closed out the ballgame for the Herd.
NOTES
Marshall took advantage of free passes, as Western Kentucky pitching walked nine Herd batters.
Peralta had a team-high three RBI in the contest as he went two-for-five with two extra-base hits.
Shapiro won his fifth game of the season, to lead the team.
Every Herd starter reached base.
Marshall's clutch hitting showed in the averages in key situations. The Herd hit .462 (6-13) with two outs, .400 (4-10) with runners in scoring position and .353 (6-17) with runners on base.
Peralta's homer was his fourth of the season.
Blanton tripled for the fourth time this season.
UP NEXT
Marshall will conclude the series against the Hilltoppers on Saturday with a double header beginning at 11 a.m. with Sunday's game being moved up due to a siginicant chance of thunderstorms.
For all the latest information about Marshall baseball, follow @HerdBaseball on Twitter and @HerdBSB on Instagram.
To follow all Thundering Herd sports and get live stats, schedules and free live audio, download the Marshall Athletics App for iOS and Android.
---HerdZone.com---
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Shapiro, Joshua (5-1)
L: Colin Lollar (2-1)
Batting:
HR: Richard Constantine 1
RBI: Richard Constantine 1 ; Jake Sanford 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Richard Constantine 1 ; Nick Brunson 1
Batting:
2B: Peralta Jr., Elvis 1
3B: Blanton, Geordon 1
HR: Peralta Jr., Elvis 1
RBI: Peralta Jr., Elvis 3 ; Linder, Tucker 1 ; Edwards, Luke 1 ; Blanton, Geordon 1
SH: Lovely, Jaren 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rodriguez, Erik 2 ; Peralta Jr., Elvis 1 ; Linder, Tucker 1 ; Pastrana, Reynaldo 1 ; Edwards, Luke 2 ; Blanton, Geordon 1
SB: Rodriguez, Erik 1 ; Linder, Tucker 1 ; Blanton, Geordon 2
CS: Linder, Tucker 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF/OF
/ Baseball
C/INF
/ Baseball
OF/INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
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