Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
12-10, 2-2
James Madison
7-15, 2-2
Late Rally Pushes Marshall Baseball Past JMU in Series Opener
3/21/2025 10:57:00 PM | Baseball
Murdoch hits team leading seventh homer
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Marshall University Baseball team (12-10, 2-2 SBC) captured its series opener, 6-5, over the James Madison Dukes (7-15, 2-2 SBC) Friday night at Jack Cook Field.
"It's a great win," Herd Baseball Head Coach Greg Beals said after the victory in the series opener. "It was certainly exciting how we did it. We put ourselves behind the eight ball a little bit. The defense and the walk, Bryce's walk, hurt. Bryce pitched so good so it's hard to say that, but that walk fueled their three-run inning in the second, but he pitched great for us it's good to see."
After JMU regained the lead, 5-4, with a pair of runs in the top of the eighth, AJ Havrilla stepped up to the plate with one out in the bottom of the frame. The first baseman smoked a 1-1 pitch into right center for his team-leading eighth double of the season.
Ethan Murdoch followed Havrilla at the dish. With a full count, the senior launched the offering over the left center wall for his team-leading seventh home run of the season and give The Herd a 6-5 lead.
"Down the stretch we got big hits when we needed them, capped off by Murdoch's home run" Beals said.
Nicholas Weyrich registered three strikeouts against four batters in the ninth to seal the game. The righty hurled a pair of scoreless innings with four strikeouts and no runs as he earned his second win of the season.
MU tallied three runs in the bottom of the seventh with Nolan Wilson scoring Elijah Vogelsong with his first triple of the season. Wilson then scored on a double by Cam Harthan with Harthan scoring on a two-out single by Tyler Kamerer.
Starting pitcher Bryce Blevins registered a quality start with 7.0 innings on the bump allowing three runs, none earned, on five hits and two walks with five punchouts.
UP NEXT
Marshall looks to take the series in game two on Saturday against the Dukes with a 4 p.m. first pitch.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Weyrich, Nicholas (2-2)
L: Kuhle, Max (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Dooley, Ryan 1
RBI: Moody, Reece 1 ; Cannizzaro, Jack 1 ; Schmidly, Ike 1 ; Fleck, Maddux 1
SF: Cannizzaro, Jack 1 ; Schmidly, Ike 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Calabrese, Coleman 1 ; Dowdell, Corey 1 ; Dooley, Ryan 1 ; Moody, Reece 1 ; Langley, Kyle 1
SB: Dooley, Ryan 1 ; Moody, Reece 1 ; Langley, Kyle 1 ; Fleck, Maddux 2
CS: Cannizzaro, Jack 1
HBP: Schmidly, Ike 1
Batting:
2B: Kamerer, Tyler 1 ; Havrilla, AJ 1 ; Harthan, Cam 1
3B: Wilson, Nolan 1
HR: Murdoch, Ethan 1
RBI: Kamerer, Tyler 1 ; Murdoch, Ethan 2 ; Wilson, Nolan 1 ; Harthan, Cam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Havrilla, AJ 1 ; Murdoch, Ethan 1 ; Vogelsong, Elijah 2 ; Wilson, Nolan 1 ; Harthan, Cam 1
CS: Kamerer, Tyler 1 ; Leon, Eddie 1
PO: Leon, Eddie 1
