The final contest of a three-game series for Marshall Baseball ended short on Saturday, March 30, as the App State Mountaineers shelled the Herd 19-2 across seven innings in Boone, North Carolina.
The game stopped after only seven innings due to the umpires’ use of the NCAA’s baseball mercy rule, otherwise known as the 10-run rule.
“We obviously didn’t pitch well,” said head coach Greg Beals following the contest. “But we had a few chances on defense to help out the pitching staff, and we were not able to make those plays.”
The Herd committed two errors in the contest while also surrendering 19 runs on 13 total hits from the Mountaineers’ batters. Eight different players for App State collected hits on a multitude of Marshall pitchers; three of those eight substituted into the lineup during the contest
The Mountaineers clobbered home five runs in the bottom of the first inning and then doubled that amount in the bottom of the second inning with 10 runs. The score was 15-0 in favor of App State after just two full innings, taking advantage of a struggling Marshall pitching department.
Carter Lyles began the day on the mound for the Herd and was pulled after just the first inning after allowing five hits, five runs and a walk against nine total batters faced. Griffin Miller entered the contest in relief of Lyles and was buried brutally by the Mountaineers’ batting department, surrendering nine runs and two walks on 11 batters faced.
By the time Cole Agemy stepped atop the mound as the Herd’s third pitcher of the day, the score was already 14-0. Agemy finished out the second inning and surrendered another run, walking three more Mountaineers.
Peyton Schofield entered the contest to start the third inning and attempted to right the ship for the Herd, surrendering no runs across the next three innings with four strikeouts against 13 separate batters. Lenny Washington finished pitching for the Herd, entering the contest in the bottom of the sixth inning and surrendering four more runs to App State.
In response, the Herd collectively managed two runs on five hits but stranded six players on-base across the contest. Marshall hit a two-RBI home run that cracked off the bat of starting left fielder Elijah Vogelsong in the top of the sixth inning, bringing home Owen Ayers. The run batted in was Vogelsong’s team-leading 20th of the year.
“It’s disappointing,” Beals said. “We started the day with an opportunity, and we did not take advantage of it.”
Marshall now falls to 9-18 overall, with a 3-6 record in Sun Belt Conference play. After the cancellation of Tuesday’s scheduled contest at Jack Cook Field versus the 11th-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies, the Herd’s next contest is Friday versus the Texas State Bobcats. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at Jack Cook Field.
