Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
13-16-1
WVU
17-10
Herd Drops Contest at WVU
4/6/2022 8:49:00 PM | Baseball
Leitch hit fifth homer of the season
Â
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Marshall University baseball team (13-16-1) suffered a 17-8 defeat to the West Virginia Mountaineers (17-10) on Wednesday afternoon in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Â
The Herd got on the board first when Ryan Leitch led off the second inning with his fifth homer of the season on a solo shot to left.
Â
Marshall then mounted a one-out rally in the third as Geordon Blanton drew a walk, Travis Sankovich singled to right and Luke Edwards drew a walk to load the bases. Edwards' walk marked the 39th consecutive game in which he has reached base. Cole Williams then brought home Blanton on a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 Herd. After a wild pitch scored Sankovich, Leitch singled to left, scoring Edwards and making it 4-0 Marshall.
Â
MU starting pitcher Chad Heiner opened the contest with a 1-2-3 bottom of the first. In the bottom of the second, he had runners at second and third with one out, but forced a double play on a line drive to Blanton to get out of the frame.
Â
The Mountaineers plated one run in the third and brought home seven in the fourth to take an 8-4 lead over the Herd.
Â
Marshall relief pitcher Carter Lyles came on from the bullpen to start the bottom of the fifth. Lyles threw scoreless fifth and sixth innings for Marshall with three strikeouts while giving up just one hit.
Â
WVU plated six runs in the bottom of the seventh and another three in the eighth to go up 17-4.
Â
MU scored four runs in the top of the ninth on a Blanton sacrifice fly, an Edwards RBI single and two runs off a WVU error, but couldn't overcome the deficit.
Â
UP NEXT
Marshall is back in action on Friday as it starts a three-game series against Middle Tennessee at the Kennedy Center. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Â
For all the latest information about Marshall baseball, follow @HerdBaseball on Twitter and @herdbsb on Instagram.
Â
To follow all Thundering Herd sports and get live stats, schedules and free live audio, download the Marshall Athletics App for iOS and Android.
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ottinger, Zach (1-0)
L: Heiner, Chad (0-2)
Batting:
HR: Leitch, Ryan 1
RBI: Edwards, Luke 1 ; Williams, Cole 1 ; Leitch, Ryan 2 ; Blanton, Geordon 1
SF: Williams, Cole 1 ; Blanton, Geordon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sankovich, Travis 2 ; Edwards, Luke 1 ; Leitch, Ryan 1 ; Lee, Avery 1 ; Leon, Eddie 1 ; Gardiner, Zach 1 ; Blanton, Geordon 1
CS: Schaefer, Kyle 1 ; Lucio, Christian 1
Batting:
2B: Wetherholt, J.J. 2 ; Barry, Braden 1 ; Kluska, Mikey 1
3B: Tucker, Tevin 1
RBI: Davis, Austin 2 ; Wetherholt, J.J. 3 ; Scott II, Victor 1 ; Blasick, Nathan 1 ; Holbrook, McGwire 2 ; Abernathy, Ben 1 ; Kluska, Mikey 2 ; Tucker, Tevin 2
SF: Blasick, Nathan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Davis, Austin 3 ; Smith, Evan 1 ; Wetherholt, J.J. 1 ; Scott II, Victor 1 ; Hussey, Grant 1 ; Holbrook, McGwire 1 ; Abernathy, Ben 1 ; Cox, Tyler 1 ; Leonard, Dayne 2 ; Ippoliti, Vince 1 ; Kluska, Mikey 2 ; Tucker, Tevin 1 ; Khan, Alex 1
SB: Davis, Austin 1
HBP: Smith, Evan 1 ; Scott II, Victor 1 ; Holbrook, McGwire 1 ; Ippoliti, Vince 1
PO: Holbrook, McGwire 1
