Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
4-7
WVU
8-8
Herd Baseball Dominates In 7-1 Win Over WVU
3/23/2021 6:42:00 PM | Baseball
First win over Mountaineers since 2015
Box Score (PDF) | Coach Waggoner Post-Game Interview
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall baseball used an all-around dominant performance to defeat in-state rival WVU, 7-1, Tuesday afternoon at the Kennedy Center.
The Herd knocked off WVU for the first time since April 2015 and snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Mountaineers. Marshall improves to 4-7 for the season, WVU drops to 8-8.
"It's really good to play our in-state rival and they obviously have a really good team and program, but now we're playing for a championship," head coach Jeff Waggoner said. "It's about conference play now. That's a good win for us to get that edge going into conference play against a good FAU team."
Waggoner's crew could not have asked for a better start, as starter Ryan Capuano pitched a scoreless 1-2-3 inning to begin the game, and Geordon Blanton crushed a lead-off home run to left field to give Marshall an early 1-0 lead.
The long ball extended the lead in the third inning, as Kyle Schaefer hit his third home run of the season, a three-run blast to right to give Marshall a 4-0 lead.
Jordon Billups brought in the team's fifth run one inning later with an RBI double to right center field, scoring Peter Hutzal. Two batters later, Cole Williams' RBI single scored Billups to extend Marshall's lead, 6-0.
Aggressive base running led to Marshall's 7th run in the fifth inning. Luke Edwards led off the inning with a single, stole second base, and then scored all the way from second on a groundout by Travis Sankovich to first base. Edwards never stopped running and comfortably came through safe at home.
Marshall's pitching was dominant. Seven different pitchers threw, allowing just two WVU hits. Capuano (1-0) earned the win on the mound, pitching 3.1 innings, striking out a team-high two batters.
Nick Jodway, Chad Heiner and Trey Alderman each allowed no walks or hits in relief.
D'Andre Knight pitched a scoreless ninth inning, sending down the Mountaineers in order.
From a defensive standpoint, Hutzal had the play of the day in the fifth inning. On a hard-hit ground ball to third base, he made a sliding slop and came up firing across the diamond to record the 5-3 putout.
Offensively, Hutzal, Williams and Edwards each had a team-high two hits. Cyrus Grimes had one hit and scored a run.
UP NEXT
The Thundering Herd begins Conference USA play at Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton. First pitch for the four-game series opener is set for Friday at 5 p.m.
#RiseAsOne
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---HerdZone.com---
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Capuano, Ryan (1-0)
L: Strechay, Tyler (0-1)
Batting:
RBI: Doanes, Tyler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Barry, Braden 1
Batting:
2B: Billups, Jordon 1
HR: Blanton, Geordon 1 ; Schaefer, Kyle 1
RBI: Blanton, Geordon 1 ; Schaefer, Kyle 3 ; Sankovich, Travis 1 ; Billups, Jordon 1 ; Williams, Cole 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Blanton, Geordon 1 ; Schaefer, Kyle 1 ; Edwards, Luke 1 ; Hutzal, Peter 1 ; Billups, Jordon 1 ; Grimes, Cyrus 1 ; Williams, Cole 1
SB: Blanton, Geordon 1 ; Edwards, Luke 1
