Five-Run Fourth Pushes Herd Past Roadrunners in Game Two

Box Score

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Marshall University baseball team (20-25-1, 9-14 C-USA) rebounded in game two of its road series against the UTSA Roadrunners (31-16, 15-8 C-USA) with a 9-6 victory on Saturday. Herd starting pitcher Patrick Copen earned his third win of the season as Ryan Capuano recorded his second save.

"Patrick did a great job setting the tone and giving us a quality start," Marshall head coach Jeff Waggoner said after the win. "Our offense did a great job of wearing down their starter and had really good ABs with runners in scoring position. Capuano was really sharp with all of his pitches working to close the game out. Going to be a dog fight tomorrow for the series against a really good team on the road."

With one out in the top of the second, Elijah Vogelsong singled to center and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Daniel Carinci followed with a single to center to put runners at the corners with one out. Marshall then executed a double steal as Carinci took second and Vogelsong took home to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, Travis Sankovich doubled to right center with two outs to score Carinci and make it 2-0.

Despite allowing a pair of runners in the top of the first, Copen got outs in the next three at bats to hold UTSA off the board. The sophomore then set the Roadrunners down in order in the second.

Luke Edwards singled to lead off the top of third as he reached base for the 55th straight game. With Edwards at third and two outs, Kyle Schaefer stepped to the plate. He sent the 1-2 pitch over the left-center fence for his eighth homer of the season to extend the Herd advantage to 4-0. UTSA got a run back the next half inning to make it 4-1 MU.

Geordon Blanton answered with a one-out home run to left for his first long ball of the season. Sankovich singled through the right side and Christian Lucio doubled to right to put runners in scoring position. Edwards brought home Sankovich with a ground out to short to extend Marshall's lead to 6-1. After Ryan Leitch drew a walk, Jordon Billups plated a pair of runs with a double and Schaefer added another with a double as the Herd led 9-1 after the five-run top of the fourth.

Copen hurled a scoreless bottom of the fourth and a 1-2-3 fifth with a pair of strikeouts to maintain the eight-run advantage.

Chase Keng hit a three-run homer for UTSA in the bottom of the sixth and the home team added another run in the seventh to cut the Marshall lead to 9-5.

After Sammy Diaz homered to lead off the bottom of the eighth for the Roadrunners, Herd reliever Ryan Capuano made his way to the mound from the bullpen. The junior sat down the next six UTSA batters in order to preserve the 9-6 victory for the visitors.

Sankovich went 4-for-5 in the win.

Schaefer had a pair of extra-base hits in the ballgame.

UP NEXT
Marshall looks to take the series in the rubber match on Sunday at UTSA. First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. CT.

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---

Five-Run Fourth Pushes Herd Past Roadrunners in Game Two

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Team Stats

Travis Sankovich

Jordon Billups

Kyle Schaefer

Christian Lucio

Players Mentioned

Jordon Billups

Geordon Blanton

Ryan Capuano

Daniel Carinci

Patrick Copen

Luke Edwards

Ryan Leitch

Christian Lucio

Travis Sankovich

Kyle Schaefer

Elijah Vogelsong

Players Mentioned

Jordon Billups

Geordon Blanton

Ryan Capuano

Daniel Carinci

Patrick Copen

Luke Edwards

Ryan Leitch

Christian Lucio

Travis Sankovich

Kyle Schaefer

Elijah Vogelsong

Marshall University Athletics