Marshall University Athletics
Thursday, April 18
Ruston, La.
7 p.m. (6 p.m. CT)
Marshall University
22-15, 9-7
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LA Tech
25-12, 10-6
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Marshall
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Louisiana Tech
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Photo by: Cody Linn
Baseball Shows Resilience in Road Win at No. 21 Louisiana Tech
4/19/2019 2:18:00 AM | Baseball
Shapiro struck out career-high 12 batters in win
Box Score
RUSTON, La. – With back-to-back three-run innings in the eighth and ninth, the Thundering Herd baseball team (22-15, 9-7 C-USA) took down the No. 21 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, 7-3, on the road in Ruston.
"Other than a couple of pitches, (Joshua) Shapiro was dominant and that's what you want out of your Friday guy," 13th-year head coach Jeff Waggoner said after the win. "(Philip) Hoffman came in in a big situation and kept us right there. (D'Andre) Knight came in and did a good job, and Mike (Guerrero) came in and closed it out. We got some big hits from seniors. (Rey) Pastrana had a big hit. (Andrew) Zban had a big hit to open it up. I'm proud of the team with the way they played down a couple of runs. They didn't quit."
Tucker Linder got the scoring started as he singled up the middle to extend his hitting streak to 22 games and brought home Erik Rodriguez to put Marshall up 1-0.
Joshua Shapiro started his outing with two perfect innings before the Bulldogs' Chris Clayton led off the bottom of the third with a home run in the hitter friendly park to tie the game 1-1.
Taylor Young put Louisiana Tech on top 3-1 with a two-out two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth.
Shapiro's night came to an end in the bottom of the seventh after walking a pair of batters with two-outs. However, the senior left-handed pitcher struck out a career-high 12 batters while giving up just three hits.
Philip Hoffman came on in relief of Shapiro in the seventh. He walked the first batter to load the bases, but stranded the bases juiced with a flyout to Linder in left to keep the deficit at 3-1.
The Herd took Hoffman's momentum to the plate in the top of the eighth. After Linder drew a one-out walk, Zach Inskeep reached on a fielder's choice as Linder advanced to third on an error by the shortstop. Reynaldo Pastrana came to the plate and just missed a homerun, but brought home Linder with a double to pull within one of the Bulldogs, 3-2.
Andrew Zban then came to the plate and ripped a single to right to score Kyle Schaefer, who pinch ran for Inskeep, and Pastrana to put the Herd back on top 4-3.
"I thought as a team, we played really well," Zban said about the team's win tonight. "Shapiro came out and gave us a great opportunity to win. The bats started out slow, but in the late innings we made some adjustments, got some guys on and I had the opportunity to help the team out."
D'Andre Knight came in for Hoffman in the bottom of the eighth and shutdown the Bulldogs despite giving up a two-out hit. Knight struck out two in the inning.
The Herd brought its hot bats into the ninth. Rodriguez leadoff with a single and Luke Edwards followed with a bunt single for his first hit of the game. Elvis Peralta then hit a ball that appeared to be staying foul, but had a weird spin that fooled the third baseman and came back fair for a single to score Rodriguez and advance Edwards to third as Marshall led 5-3.
Linder then came to the plate and singled through the right side on a hit-and-run to score Edwards. Evan Hurn then concluded the scoring for the Herd in the ninth when he smoked a ball down the right field line to score Edwards and put Marshall up 7-3.
"It was good to see a guy come off the bench in Evan Hurn, who's had obstacles throughout the year, but come in and get a big hit right there," Waggoner said about Hurn's hit off the bench while seeing limited at bats during the season.
Michael Guerrero came on to close it out in the ninth. Zban began the inning defensively with a sliding catch along the line in right for the first out. Guerrero then struck out the next Bulldog hitter and got a fly out to preserve the game with a 1-2-3 inning.
Hoffman was credited with the win and is now 2-0 on the season.
"Tonight meant a lot. We have a special team this year, but we have two more games to go this weekend," Zban said of the team's resilient win in game one of the series.
NOTES
- Shapiro is now fifth in program history in strikeouts with 212. He passed Aaron Blair (2011-13) and Arik Sikula (2008-11) who had 200 and 201, respectively.
- With 22 wins, the 2019 squad is now tied for the 11th-most wins in a season in program history.
UP NEXT
Marshall will try to take the series as they take on LA Tech in game two of the series at 5 PM EST/4 PM CST on Friday.
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---
RUSTON, La. – With back-to-back three-run innings in the eighth and ninth, the Thundering Herd baseball team (22-15, 9-7 C-USA) took down the No. 21 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, 7-3, on the road in Ruston.
"Other than a couple of pitches, (Joshua) Shapiro was dominant and that's what you want out of your Friday guy," 13th-year head coach Jeff Waggoner said after the win. "(Philip) Hoffman came in in a big situation and kept us right there. (D'Andre) Knight came in and did a good job, and Mike (Guerrero) came in and closed it out. We got some big hits from seniors. (Rey) Pastrana had a big hit. (Andrew) Zban had a big hit to open it up. I'm proud of the team with the way they played down a couple of runs. They didn't quit."
Tucker Linder got the scoring started as he singled up the middle to extend his hitting streak to 22 games and brought home Erik Rodriguez to put Marshall up 1-0.
Joshua Shapiro started his outing with two perfect innings before the Bulldogs' Chris Clayton led off the bottom of the third with a home run in the hitter friendly park to tie the game 1-1.
Taylor Young put Louisiana Tech on top 3-1 with a two-out two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth.
Shapiro's night came to an end in the bottom of the seventh after walking a pair of batters with two-outs. However, the senior left-handed pitcher struck out a career-high 12 batters while giving up just three hits.
Philip Hoffman came on in relief of Shapiro in the seventh. He walked the first batter to load the bases, but stranded the bases juiced with a flyout to Linder in left to keep the deficit at 3-1.
The Herd took Hoffman's momentum to the plate in the top of the eighth. After Linder drew a one-out walk, Zach Inskeep reached on a fielder's choice as Linder advanced to third on an error by the shortstop. Reynaldo Pastrana came to the plate and just missed a homerun, but brought home Linder with a double to pull within one of the Bulldogs, 3-2.
Andrew Zban then came to the plate and ripped a single to right to score Kyle Schaefer, who pinch ran for Inskeep, and Pastrana to put the Herd back on top 4-3.
"I thought as a team, we played really well," Zban said about the team's win tonight. "Shapiro came out and gave us a great opportunity to win. The bats started out slow, but in the late innings we made some adjustments, got some guys on and I had the opportunity to help the team out."
D'Andre Knight came in for Hoffman in the bottom of the eighth and shutdown the Bulldogs despite giving up a two-out hit. Knight struck out two in the inning.
The Herd brought its hot bats into the ninth. Rodriguez leadoff with a single and Luke Edwards followed with a bunt single for his first hit of the game. Elvis Peralta then hit a ball that appeared to be staying foul, but had a weird spin that fooled the third baseman and came back fair for a single to score Rodriguez and advance Edwards to third as Marshall led 5-3.
Linder then came to the plate and singled through the right side on a hit-and-run to score Edwards. Evan Hurn then concluded the scoring for the Herd in the ninth when he smoked a ball down the right field line to score Edwards and put Marshall up 7-3.
"It was good to see a guy come off the bench in Evan Hurn, who's had obstacles throughout the year, but come in and get a big hit right there," Waggoner said about Hurn's hit off the bench while seeing limited at bats during the season.
Michael Guerrero came on to close it out in the ninth. Zban began the inning defensively with a sliding catch along the line in right for the first out. Guerrero then struck out the next Bulldog hitter and got a fly out to preserve the game with a 1-2-3 inning.
Hoffman was credited with the win and is now 2-0 on the season.
"Tonight meant a lot. We have a special team this year, but we have two more games to go this weekend," Zban said of the team's resilient win in game one of the series.
NOTES
- Shapiro is now fifth in program history in strikeouts with 212. He passed Aaron Blair (2011-13) and Arik Sikula (2008-11) who had 200 and 201, respectively.
- With 22 wins, the 2019 squad is now tied for the 11th-most wins in a season in program history.
UP NEXT
Marshall will try to take the series as they take on LA Tech in game two of the series at 5 PM EST/4 PM CST on Friday.
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: Hoffman, Philip (2-0)
L: Braxton Smith (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Hurn, Evan 1 ; Pastrana, Reynaldo 1
RBI: Peralta Jr., Elvis 1 ; Linder, Tucker 2 ; Hurn, Evan 1 ; Pastrana, Reynaldo 1 ; Zban, Andrew 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Rodriguez, Erik 2 ; Edwards, Luke 1 ; Peralta Jr., Elvis 1 ; Linder, Tucker 1 ; Schaefer, Kyle 1 ; Pastrana, Reynaldo 1
SB: Linder, Tucker 1 ; Zban, Andrew 1
Batting:
HR: Taylor Young 1 ; Chris Clayton 1
RBI: Taylor Young 2 ; Chris Clayton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Taylor Young 1 ; Mason Robinson 1 ; Chris Clayton 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
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5
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H
2
RBI
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4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF/OF
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