The Morehead State baseball team tallied 14 hits and took advantage of seven free passes to post an 11-9 win over Conference USA opponent Marshall on Tuesday afternoon (March 11) at Allen Field. The Eagles improve to 7-8 overall, while the Thundering Herd falls to 5-10.
MSU junior catcher Chris Robinson extended his hitting streak to 12 games by going 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI, while junior right fielder Brandon Rawe pushed his streak to 11 contests by going 4-for-5 with one score and four RBI. The four base knocks matched a team high this year.
Morehead State held a 6-1 advantage after plating six runs in the third inning. The Eagles added two insurance runs in the sixth and three more in the eighth to open up an 11-3 upper hand.
Marshall answered with answered with six runs in its final at-bat and put the tying run at second base before senior right-hander Dan Hyatt slammed the door for his third save of the year.
"Our pitchers couldn't find the plate in the ninth inning, which made things much more interesting than they had to be," Head Coach Mike McGuire said. "But, at the end of the day, you win or you lose, and I was proud of Dan for getting us back on track and helping us get the victory."
Morehead State sent 11 men to the plate in the third. The Eagles tallied five hits and took advantage of two Marshall errors. Junior first baseman Kane Sweeney and Rawe highlighted the frame with back-to-back run-scoring doubles. MSU cruised from that point until the ninth.
"We had several big hits in the third inning," McGuire said. "Our offense failed to execute at times throughout the game, but I felt like our next hitter stepped up and gave us a quality at-bat. That was one of many keys to getting this important win over a Conference USA opponent."
Marshall sent 11 batters to the dish in the ninth. Morehead State's first two pitchers hit three batters, walked two and allowed two hits. A two-run double by sophomore third baseman Aaron Bossi trimmed the deficit to two, but Hyatt recorded the final two outs to preserve the win.
MSU junior right-hander Blake Smith earned the win in his first decision of the campaign. He allowed three earned runs, four hits and four walks while striking out five in 5.2 innings.
MU freshman left-hander Roscoe Blackburn suffered the loss in his first decision of 2014. He allowed three earned runs, three hits and three walks while fanning just one in 2.1 frames.
Freshman center fielder Ryan Kent (2-for-2, 3 R), junior designated hitter Nick Newell (2-for-3, 1 RBI) and junior shortstop Robby Spencer (2-for-5, 2 R) also posted multiple hits for the Eagles. Bossi and junior left fielder Eric Escobedo notched two base knocks each for the Thundering Herd.
Morehead State returns to Ohio Valley Conference action this weekend when it hosts league favorite Tennessee Tech. The teams are slated to play on Friday (March 14) at 3 p.m., Saturday (March 15) at 2 p.m. and Sunday (March 16) at 1 p.m. Audio play-by-play of all three contests, along with live statistics, will be available via MSUEagles.com.
