Marshall University Athletics
Tuesday, March 21
Cincinnati, Ohio
5:00 PM
Marshall University
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Marshall
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Cincinnati
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Photo by: Jack Kelly
Herd Baseball Goes Wire-to-Wire in Mid-Week Win at Cincinnati
3/21/2023 9:16:00 PM | Baseball
Ferraro, Schaefer each homer in road victory
Box Score
CINCINNATI, Ohio – Marshall baseball (10-8) used a four-run first inning and clutch pitching late from reliever Eddie Leon to topple the Cincinnati Bearcats (8-13), 8-4, Tuesday night in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Chad Heiner earned his first win of the season as Leon earned his first career save.
"Today was, maybe just yet, the best game we've played this year," Herd head coach Greg Beals said. "Defensively we were clean. Offensively I thought we had a great approach. We executed that approach all the way through. We get the big inning early then tack on runs throughout the game."
The Herd led off the contest with three straight batters reaching base. Luke Edwards reached on an error and Kyle Schaefer singled to right to put runners at the corners. Owen Ayers followed with a single to right to score Edwards and make it 1-0 Herd.
After a Gio Ferraro groundout moved Schaefer and Ayers into scoring position, Calin Smith cleared the bases with a one-out, two-RBI triple to make it 3-0. Smith eventually crossed home on a Daniel Carinci groundout as MU led 4-0 after the top of the first.
Heiner stifled the Bearcats as he went 3.0 scoreless innings giving up just one hit and striking out two for his first win of the season.
The Herd then added a run in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth frames. In the fourth, Christian Lucio led off with a walk and was brought home on a one-out groundout by Schaefer.
In the fifth, Ferraro blasted his second homer of the season off a light pole beyond the right-field fence and the junior brought home Schaefer on a fielder's choice in the sixth.
"Eddie's started at third base and struggled," Beals said about Leon. "He's been a guy working on his pitching and he hasn't had many opportunities. We felt like he was ready for this opportunity. We put him in a really big spot in the sixth where he got the strikeout with the bases loaded. We put him in a tough spot and he responded. Then he totally had the tempo of the game there in the end. He did more than what we were expecting, more than what we wanted. That wasn't the game plan for him to go that many innings, but he just had control of the game."
Leon came on from the bullpen with two outs and bases filled with Bearcats in the bottom of the sixth. The sophomore righty threw three-straight strikes for a strikeout to leave them loaded and keep the Herd in front 7-4. Leon closed out the final 3.1 innings giving up no runs while giving up just a hit and a walk while striking out three.
"It felt good," Leon said about his outing. "First of all glory to God, the guy above. He's the reason why I'm here. I had to step up and pickup Nick (Weyrich) in front of me. The energy from the team helped me. I love these guys. That's all I care about, doing it for them."
Schaefer then homered in the top of the eighth, his third of the season, as part of his 3-for-4, three run scoring effort to extend the lead to 8-4.
UP NEXT
The Herd opens its first Sun Belt Conference road series at Old Dominion on Friday at 6 p.m.
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.
CINCINNATI, Ohio – Marshall baseball (10-8) used a four-run first inning and clutch pitching late from reliever Eddie Leon to topple the Cincinnati Bearcats (8-13), 8-4, Tuesday night in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Chad Heiner earned his first win of the season as Leon earned his first career save.
"Today was, maybe just yet, the best game we've played this year," Herd head coach Greg Beals said. "Defensively we were clean. Offensively I thought we had a great approach. We executed that approach all the way through. We get the big inning early then tack on runs throughout the game."
The Herd led off the contest with three straight batters reaching base. Luke Edwards reached on an error and Kyle Schaefer singled to right to put runners at the corners. Owen Ayers followed with a single to right to score Edwards and make it 1-0 Herd.
After a Gio Ferraro groundout moved Schaefer and Ayers into scoring position, Calin Smith cleared the bases with a one-out, two-RBI triple to make it 3-0. Smith eventually crossed home on a Daniel Carinci groundout as MU led 4-0 after the top of the first.
Heiner stifled the Bearcats as he went 3.0 scoreless innings giving up just one hit and striking out two for his first win of the season.
The Herd then added a run in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth frames. In the fourth, Christian Lucio led off with a walk and was brought home on a one-out groundout by Schaefer.
In the fifth, Ferraro blasted his second homer of the season off a light pole beyond the right-field fence and the junior brought home Schaefer on a fielder's choice in the sixth.
"Eddie's started at third base and struggled," Beals said about Leon. "He's been a guy working on his pitching and he hasn't had many opportunities. We felt like he was ready for this opportunity. We put him in a really big spot in the sixth where he got the strikeout with the bases loaded. We put him in a tough spot and he responded. Then he totally had the tempo of the game there in the end. He did more than what we were expecting, more than what we wanted. That wasn't the game plan for him to go that many innings, but he just had control of the game."
Leon came on from the bullpen with two outs and bases filled with Bearcats in the bottom of the sixth. The sophomore righty threw three-straight strikes for a strikeout to leave them loaded and keep the Herd in front 7-4. Leon closed out the final 3.1 innings giving up no runs while giving up just a hit and a walk while striking out three.
"It felt good," Leon said about his outing. "First of all glory to God, the guy above. He's the reason why I'm here. I had to step up and pickup Nick (Weyrich) in front of me. The energy from the team helped me. I love these guys. That's all I care about, doing it for them."
Schaefer then homered in the top of the eighth, his third of the season, as part of his 3-for-4, three run scoring effort to extend the lead to 8-4.
UP NEXT
The Herd opens its first Sun Belt Conference road series at Old Dominion on Friday at 6 p.m.
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: Heiner, Chad (1-0)
L: Harker, G. (0-3)
S: Leon, Eddie (1)
Batting:
2B: Schaefer, Kyle 1
3B: Smith, Calin 1
HR: Schaefer, Kyle 1 ; Ferraro, Gio 1
RBI: Schaefer, Kyle 2 ; Ayers, Owen 1 ; Ferraro, Gio 2 ; Smith, Calin 2 ; Carinci, Daniel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Edwards, Luke 1 ; Schaefer, Kyle 3 ; Ayers, Owen 1 ; Ferraro, Gio 1 ; Smith, Calin 1 ; Lucio, Christian 1
SB: Smith, Calin 1 ; Lucio, Christian 2
HBP: Vogelsong, Elijah 1
Batting:
2B: Jones, A. 1
HR: Schupmann K. 1
RBI: Jones, A. 1 ; Schupmann K. 1 ; Guidry, K. 2
SH: Cross, K. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sponseller J 1 ; Schupmann K. 1 ; Hegemann, J. 1 ; Brooks, L. 1
CS: Sponseller J 1
HBP: Jones, A. 1 ; Sponseller J 1 ; Schupmann K. 1 ; Brooks, L. 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
3
H
4
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
1B/C
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF/OF/C
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballOF
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