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Baseball Stunned at Marshall in C-USA Series Opener on Friday
April 27, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Marshall jumped out to a 12-6 lead after seven innings and then held off a late comeback in taking a 12-11 win over the University of Houston baseball team Friday in the opener of a Conference USA series at Appalachian Power Park. Trailing 12-7 in their final at bat, the Cougars strung together four runs off four hits in the top of the ninth inning. Josh Stirneman led off with a single to right and moved to second after a wild pitch. Luis Flores drew a walk and Bryan Pounds slapped a single into right field to load the bases. Zak Presley lined a two-run single into right field. After a Marshall pitching change, Felix Fanaselle reached on a fielder's choice that put runners on the corner. Ryan Lormand grounded out but not before Presley scored from third base. Bryan Tully lined a double into left center to score Fanaselle to pull the Cougars to within 12-11. But Marshall closer Nick Wolle forced a groundout to end the comeback and the game. Cougar starter Aaron Brown collected the loss and fell to 6-3 after surrendering six runs off seven hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts in only 2.1 innings.
Jimmy Cesario went 3-for-5 with two doubles, two runs and an RBI to extend his hitting streak to a career- and UH-season-best 19 games. His streak is the fifth longest in school history and the longest since former outfielder Travis Tully hit safely in 21 straight games during the 2004 season. Lormand went 2-for-5 with two runs, two RBIs, two stolen bases and a double, while senior infielder Dustin Kingsbury batted 4-for-5 with a run and two RBIs in the losing effort. Pounds batted 2-for-5 with a run and two RBIs, and Tully batted 2-for-6 with a double, run and RBI. Marshall reliever Andrew Blain earned the win and improved to 4-1 after limiting the Cougars to three runs (two earned) off six hits and three walks with eight strikeouts in 5.1 innings. Wolle collected his seventh save after holding the Cougars to a hit in one inning. Tommy Johnson went 3-for-5 with three runs and two doubles, while Brit Vincent batted 2-for-5 with two runs. Blake Sanders batted 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs, and Nate Lape went 2-for-3 with a run, homer and three RBIs. With the loss, the Cougars fell to 23-14 overall, 9-4 in C-USA games, and saw their four-game winning streak come to an end. Marshall improved to 18-22, 3-9 C-USA. The series continues at 6 p.m. (CDT) Saturday before wrapping up at 10 a.m. (CDT), Sunday. Fans can hear Cougar Baseball games live on UHCougars.com with former Cougar letterwinners Nick Torina and Pat Cauley calling all the action. Fans can follow live stats by clicking on the "Gametracker" link on the front page of UHCougars.com or on the Schedule and Results page off the Baseball main page. Fans always can follow live stats by clicking on the "Gametracker" link on the front page of UHCougars.com or on the "Schedule and Results" page off the Baseball main page. Redshirt freshman southpaw Wes Musick will make his 11th start of the season Saturday This season, the Lufkin native has posted a 5-3 record with 52 strikeouts and a 2.93 ERA in 58.1 innings of work. In addition, Musick enters this weekend's series on a career-best three-game winning streak. He has not collected a loss since dropping an 8-2 decision to Northwestern State on March 3 in the middle game of that non-conference series. He leads all Cougar pitchers in ERA, strikeouts and opponents' batting average (.228) and is one of only five players in C-USA to rank among the Top Seven individual leaders in all pitching Triple Crown categories. Although he did not collect a decision in his last start, Musick was impressive as he battled with Tulane starter Shooter Hunt during the middle game of that series on April 21 in Metairie, La. He allowed only one run off five hits and three walks with eight strikeouts in seven innings. However, he did not collect a decision as the Cougars rallied in the ninth inning to take a 2-1 win over the Green Wave. Saturday's game will be Musick's first career appearance against the Thundering Herd. Marshall is slated to throw sophomore southpaw Ryan Kiel. This season, Kiel has posted a 4-3 record with 25 strikeouts and an 8.57 ERA in 34.2 innings. The Cougars wasted little time in grabbing their first lead, scoring a run in the first inning. Lormand led off with an infield single and stole second base to move into scoring position. After a walk to Cesario, Kingsbury lifted an RBI-single into shallow left field for a 1-0 UH lead. UH added another run in the second inning, thanks to a two-out rally. Chris Joseph was hit by pitch and then swiped his first career base to move into scoring position. Lormand followed with a double down the left-field line. Marshall knotted the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the frame, though, as Sanders and Mason Chapman lifted back-to-back sacrifice flies. The Cougars regained the lead in the third inning. Cesario and Kingsbury led off with back-to-back singles before Stirneman's walk loaded the bases. Two batters later, Pounds smashed a two-run single into right center for a 4-2 Cougar lead. Marshall answered in the bottom of the frame with four runs to regain the lead. Brandon Casamassima scored on a wild pitch, and Josh Valle's two-run homer to right center handed the Herd the lead again. Marshall continued to rap out hits and pushed its advantage to 6-4 on Nate Lape's sacrifice fly to right field. The Cougars trimmed that deficit to 7-5 in the fourth inning. Lormand drew a leadoff walk, moved up following a wild pitch and stole third base before Kingsbury lined a single into center field for a Marshall 7-5 lead. In the sixth inning, the Cougars used a hit and Marshall error to pull to within a run. Cesario lined a one-out double down the left-field line to start the UH rally. Kingsbury then lined a single into right center, and Cesario came around from second base when the ball was misplayed in the outfield. Marshall answered in the next half inning and pushed its lead back to two runs when Lape led off with a home run to right center. The Herd iced the game in the seventh inning with four more runs, courtesy of RBI-singles from Sanders and Lape, Chapman's fielder's choice that allowed Johnson to score from third base and Nick Damas' sacrifice bunt. The Cougars scored a run in the eighth inning when Cesario's second double of the night plated Tully from first base. |
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