Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
18-10
Western Carolina
12-13
Baseball Takes Home Contest Over Western Carolina
4/3/2019 8:42:00 PM | Baseball
Linder extends hitting streak to 13 games
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Thundering Herd baseball team (18-10) pulled out the victory over Western Carolina, 10-9, on Wednesday at the Kennedy Center.
"Mid-week games are about toughness, energy, focus and team-effort. I thought we did that," 13th-year head coach Jeff Waggoner said after the win. "The bats came out and swung it well. The pitchers at the end of the game closed it out. That's what you need."
WCU's Koehler hit his first of three home runs to give the Catamounts an early 1-0 after the top of the first. However, the Herd struck for five runs including RBI-singles by Andrew Zban and Elvis Peralta, an RBI from Luke Edwards as he reached on a fielder's choice, Tucker Linder scored on a wild pitch and Raul Cabrera brought home the final run on a triple.
WCU cut the Marshall lead to 5-3 in the top of the second, but Peralta brought home a run on a groundout in the bottom half of the inning to extend the lead back to three runs. Tucker Linder scored the run and extended his hitting streak to 13 games, a new team-high for the season.
The Catamounts struck for four runs in the top of the fourth to take a 7-6 lead.
Erik Rodriguez tied the ballgame back up on an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth as Kyle Schafer, who made his first career start, crossed the plate.
Koehler struck for his third homer of the game for Western Carolina in the top of the sixth to take a 9-7 lead.
Rodriguez proceed to bring home another two runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game again with it being 9-9.
Cabrera brought home the game deciding run when he hit a grounder that appeared to be a possible double play, but an erred throw by the second baseman went into the visiting dugout and allowed Elivis Peralta to score.
Michael Guerrero threw a scoreless ninth inning to earn his fourth save of the season.
The combination of Garrett Priestley, D'Andre Knight and Guerrero combined to not give up a hit in the final three innings of play. Knight earned his second win of the season.
UP NEXT
Marshall returns to conference play on Friday to begin a three-game set at Southern Mississippi.
"We have to go out and play our game. They're a good team. We need to be ready to go play good baseball," Waggoner said.
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: Knight, D'Andre (2-2)
L: Joe Vranesic (1-2)
S: Guerrero, Michael (4)
Batting:
HR: Matthew Koehler 3 ; Immanuel Wilder 1
RBI: Justice Bigbie 1 ; Matthew Koehler 6 ; Immanuel Wilder 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Justice Bigbie 2 ; Matthew Koehler 3 ; Immanuel Wilder 1 ; Justin Sparks 1 ; Will Prater 1 ; Colin Bertsch 1
CS: Bryson Parks 1
HBP: Daylan Nanny 1 ; Luke Robinson 1 ; Immanuel Wilder 1
Batting:
2B: Inskeep, Zach 1 ; Linder, Tucker 1
3B: Cabrera, Raul 1 ; Blanton, Geordon 1
RBI: Rodriguez, Erik 3 ; Zban, Andrew 1 ; Peralta Jr., Elvis 2 ; Edwards, Luke 1 ; Cabrera, Raul 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Rodriguez, Erik 1 ; Zban, Andrew 1 ; Inskeep, Zach 2 ; Linder, Tucker 1 ; Peralta Jr., Elvis 1 ; Edwards, Luke 1 ; Schaefer, Kyle 1 ; Pastrana, Reynaldo 1 ; Blanton, Geordon 1
SB: Rodriguez, Erik 2
HBP: Zban, Andrew 1
PO: Rodriguez, Erik 1
