May 16, 2010
Marshall Baseball Drops First Game of Double Dip at Houston, 11-6
Thundering Herd Looks to Split Doubleheader
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
Houston, TX (HNN) – Victor Gomez smacked a double, homer and drove in three runs, but five Marshall errors were too much to overcome as the Thundering Herd dropped the first game of a doubleheader to Houston, 11-6, on Saturday afternoon, May 15 at Cougar Field in Conference USA action.
Marshall fell to 22-27 overall and now owns an even 11-11 record in C-USA play. Houston ups its record to 21-27, with an 8-11 tally against league opponents.
V. Gomez, Ben Jurevicius and Kurt Lipton all tallied two hits apiece for the Herd in the loss.
A two-out triple from Lipton into the right-field corner put UH ace Michael Goodnight on the early hot seat. The right-hander opted to avoid V. Gomez, issuing the Herd slugger a free pass to put runners on the corners. Goodnight was able to keep MU off the scoreboard by forcing a fly out from James Lavinskas to end the top of the first.
UH notched three-straight singles to right field from its three through five hitters to tally two runs in the bottom of the inning. Cleanup hitter M.P. Cokinos and Zak Presley roped RBI base knocks to take the two-run edge to the second. Ian Kadish induced an inning ending double play to halt the early UH attack.
The Cougars sent home two more base runners in the second, thanks to a RBI bloop single from Joel Ansley followed by a Caleb Ramsey sacrifice fly, pushing the advantage to 4-0.
The Herd finally roughed up Goodnight and the Cougars in the top of the fifth. Kenny Socorro broke out of a slump by lining a single to right-centerfield to start the offensive push. Leadoff man Kirby Pellant lined a ball of the UH starter, but was retired on the play, prior to Jurevicius lacing a RBI double for the first MU run. Jurevicius raced home on a UH miscue for the second run and V. Gomez just missed a homer, smoking a RBI double off the right-field wall to put the visitors within a run, 4-3.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Cougars responded with three runs of their own. Presley drew a leadoff walk, followed by consecutive bunt singles, which sent one run home. A sac bunt positioned two UH runners up 90-feet and ended the day for Kadish. Reliever Tyler Gatrell was welcomed by Ryan Still, who bounced a RBI base hit to center and later the third run of the frame would come home on a sac fly.
Kadish (2-6) ended the afternoon logging 4.1 innings, surrendering seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits.
Trailing 8-3 entering the top of the seventh, Jurevicius lined his second hit of the day. With two outs and Jurevicius still on base, V. Gomez unloaded on the first pitch of his fourth at bat from Goodnight for a two-run shot, his 16th of the season, cutting the Herd deficit to three runs. After James Lavinskas and Nathan Gomez drew back-to-back free passes, UH went to righty Chase Dempsay to retire the third out of the frame and end the MU threat.
Goodnight (5-7) worked 6.2 frames with seven strikeouts along with five base-on-balls. The righty gave up five runs (four earned) on a total of seven base hits, including four extra-base knocks.
UH extended the lead back to four runs – 9-5 – when Ansley hit what appeared to be a routine groundout with runners on second and third. The bounding ball ricocheted off the dirt and flew over the head of Socorro at shortstop, allowing a tough-luck run to score on the RBI base hit.
The Cougars added two runs in the bottom of the eighth, before Alfredo Brito lined a pinch-hit RBI single in the top of the ninth to round out the scoring for game one of the twinbill.
GAME NOTES – Kurt Lipton set the MU single-season triples record (7) in the first…V. Gomez launched his 45th career homer in the seventh…five miscues are the most by the Herd in a game this season.
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Marshall Baseball Drops First Game of Double Dip at Houston, 11-6
Thundering Herd Looks to Split Doubleheader
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
Houston, TX (HNN) – Victor Gomez smacked a double, homer and drove in three runs, but five Marshall errors were too much to overcome as the Thundering Herd dropped the first game of a doubleheader to Houston, 11-6, on Saturday afternoon, May 15 at Cougar Field in Conference USA action.
Marshall fell to 22-27 overall and now owns an even 11-11 record in C-USA play. Houston ups its record to 21-27, with an 8-11 tally against league opponents.
V. Gomez, Ben Jurevicius and Kurt Lipton all tallied two hits apiece for the Herd in the loss.
A two-out triple from Lipton into the right-field corner put UH ace Michael Goodnight on the early hot seat. The right-hander opted to avoid V. Gomez, issuing the Herd slugger a free pass to put runners on the corners. Goodnight was able to keep MU off the scoreboard by forcing a fly out from James Lavinskas to end the top of the first.
UH notched three-straight singles to right field from its three through five hitters to tally two runs in the bottom of the inning. Cleanup hitter M.P. Cokinos and Zak Presley roped RBI base knocks to take the two-run edge to the second. Ian Kadish induced an inning ending double play to halt the early UH attack.
The Cougars sent home two more base runners in the second, thanks to a RBI bloop single from Joel Ansley followed by a Caleb Ramsey sacrifice fly, pushing the advantage to 4-0.
The Herd finally roughed up Goodnight and the Cougars in the top of the fifth. Kenny Socorro broke out of a slump by lining a single to right-centerfield to start the offensive push. Leadoff man Kirby Pellant lined a ball of the UH starter, but was retired on the play, prior to Jurevicius lacing a RBI double for the first MU run. Jurevicius raced home on a UH miscue for the second run and V. Gomez just missed a homer, smoking a RBI double off the right-field wall to put the visitors within a run, 4-3.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Cougars responded with three runs of their own. Presley drew a leadoff walk, followed by consecutive bunt singles, which sent one run home. A sac bunt positioned two UH runners up 90-feet and ended the day for Kadish. Reliever Tyler Gatrell was welcomed by Ryan Still, who bounced a RBI base hit to center and later the third run of the frame would come home on a sac fly.
Kadish (2-6) ended the afternoon logging 4.1 innings, surrendering seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits.
Trailing 8-3 entering the top of the seventh, Jurevicius lined his second hit of the day. With two outs and Jurevicius still on base, V. Gomez unloaded on the first pitch of his fourth at bat from Goodnight for a two-run shot, his 16th of the season, cutting the Herd deficit to three runs. After James Lavinskas and Nathan Gomez drew back-to-back free passes, UH went to righty Chase Dempsay to retire the third out of the frame and end the MU threat.
Goodnight (5-7) worked 6.2 frames with seven strikeouts along with five base-on-balls. The righty gave up five runs (four earned) on a total of seven base hits, including four extra-base knocks.
UH extended the lead back to four runs – 9-5 – when Ansley hit what appeared to be a routine groundout with runners on second and third. The bounding ball ricocheted off the dirt and flew over the head of Socorro at shortstop, allowing a tough-luck run to score on the RBI base hit.
The Cougars added two runs in the bottom of the eighth, before Alfredo Brito lined a pinch-hit RBI single in the top of the ninth to round out the scoring for game one of the twinbill.
GAME NOTES – Kurt Lipton set the MU single-season triples record (7) in the first…V. Gomez launched his 45th career homer in the seventh…five miscues are the most by the Herd in a game this season.
www.HerdZone.com
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