Marshall 5, WKU 3 (PDF)
CHARLESTON, W. Va. -- Marshall second baseman Aaron Bossi cranked a three-run homer in the first inning and the Herd held off a late WKU rally to pick up a 5-3, series-clinching win over the Hilltoppers Saturday afternoon at Appalachian Power Park.
The Hilltoppers (23-26, 9-17 C-USA) doubled-up the Herd in hits, 8-4, and scored a pair of ninth-inning runs to make things interesting late, but the pitching combination of JD Hammer and Kolin Stanley was enough to lift Marshall (18-30, 10-16 C-USA) to victory. Hammer struck out 11 WKU batters and scattered six hits over eight quality innings while Stanley recorded the final three outs for the second-straight game to preserve the Herd triumph.
Juniors Anderson Miller and Danny Hudzina kept WKU's hopes alive with back-to-back two-out RBI singles in the ninth inning to cut Marshall's lead to 5-3 and bring up senior first baseman Ryan Church. Church, WKU's leader in RBI with 43, represented the go-ahead run with Hudzina and Miller at the corners, but he fouled out to Marshall shortstop Sergio Leon to end the game.
The loss was WKU's eighth-consecutive league loss as its record dipped to 9-17 with four games remaining in the regular season. Marshall jumped the Tops in the league standings at 10-16 and also clinched the series tiebreaker.
WKU senior Brennan Pearson struggled with his location in the first inning as he walked DJ Gee and TJ Diffenderfer after retiring his first batter faced. Marshall's Bossi made Pearson pay for the free passes with a homer over the left field wall that put the Tops in a 3-0 hole early.
Pearson settled in nicely after a tough first inning and only allowed one hit between the second and sixth innings to keep WKU within striking distance.
The Hilltoppers started to string a threat together in the fifth inning when sophomore designated hitter Hunter Wood led off with an opposite-field single. Redshirt senior catcher Ryan Messex ripped a double down the left field line to score Wood all the way from first and bring WKU within 3-1. Marshall intentionally walked Miller and Church drew a two-out walk to load the bases for classmate Cody Wofford. Hammer avoided further damage by striking Wofford out to leave the bases full of Hilltoppers.
Pearson pitched perfect fifth and sixth innings to keep Marshall's lead at two runs before being chased early in the seventh inning. Herd shortstop Leon looped a single into left field, designated hitter Josh King was plunked and catcher Matt Reed successfully sacrificed both runners into scoring position to force WKU's bullpen call. Redshirt sophomore reliever Kevin Elder struck out Robert Fajardo for the second out of the inning but Marshall centerfielder lined a two-out, two-run single to the right center gap to extend the Herd's lead to 5-1.
Down to its final three outs, rookie second baseman Steven Kraft started WKU's ninth inning with a sharply-hit single to right field. Wood drew a walk behind Kraft to put a pair of runners on base with no outs, but outfielders Paul Murray and Trevor Lowe went down in consecutive at bats. Miller delivered a two-out single through the right side to plate Kraft and Hudzina followed with a run-scoring knock up the middle to bring home Wood. WKU couldn't get any closer than 5-3, however, as Church went down with the potential tying runs on base.
Hammer picked up his second win of the season and struck out a career-high 11 batters. Pearson was tagged with his fifth loss despite equaling his career-high in strikeouts with six and limiting Marshall to three hits that helped result in five runs.
Seven different Hilltoppers contributed to the team's eight-hit total and Hudzina once again had a pair of hits, marking his 21st multiple-hit game of the season. He, Miller and Messex accounted for all three of WKU's RBI.
The Hilltoppers look to snap their losing streak and salvage the series against the Herd Sunday at 9 a.m. (CT). Junior Josh Bartley (5-4, 4.97 ERA) will start for WKU and he'll duel with a fellow right-hander in Marshall's Michael Taylor (2-5, 3.20 ERA).
