Baseball Drops 13-11 Slugfest to Marshall at Home Wednesday Night

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MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Morehead State baseball team tallied 18 hits, including four extra-base hits, but visiting Marshall nailed four home runs and got a go-ahead three-run home run in the eighth as the Thundering Herd slipped past the Eagles 13-11 at Allen Field Wednesday night.

Morehead State fell to 27-14 overall and lost for just the second time in 20 outings at home in 2017. Marshall moved to 20-21.

Senior Will Schneider, sophomore Reid Leonard and junior third baseman Eli Boggess all recorded three hits apiece. Two of the four Marshall homers came with at least one runner on base. The final one was tallied by leftfielder Andrew Zban and gave the visitors the 13-11 final verdict.

"We did several things well tonight," said head coach Mike McGuire. "But we also needed to pitch a little better, and I thought we did not get quality at-bats late. We also had a chance to score more runs, even in our innings where we had multiple runs, but we didn't get enough timely hits. We just need to stick together and be ready for this weekend."

The Eagles scored three times in the first inning via five hits before the 'Herd answered with solo tallies in the second and third and four in the fourth to grab a 6-3 lead. A two-run single by senior DH Jimmy Wright, followed by a two-run double by freshman catcher Brody Shoupe, catapulted Morehead State back to a 7-6 advantage in the fifth. Leonard's single then pushed MSU ahead 8-6, but a two-run blast by Sam Finfer allowed Marshall to tie it 8-8 in the sixth frame. 

Tied 9-9 in the seventh, Schneider crushed his eighth homer, a two-run job, to left field for the 11-9 lead. Shoupe and Wright both had three RBI.

On the mound, senior lefthander Cable Wright was saddled with the loss, allowing the final home run, which was a line drive over the short right field fence. He fell to 2-1. Will Ray tossed the seventh and eighth frames and was credited with the victory to move to 2-2. Matt Reed allowed two ninth-inning hits, including a double by sophomore outfielder Niko Hulsizer, but stranded runners on the corners for his fourth save.

Morehead State remains at home this weekend to host Eastern Illinois for a three-game league set. Game one is set for Friday at 5 p.m. ET.