Marshall University’s baseball team looks to build momentum for the C-USA tournament this weekend with a three-game series against Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

The Thundering Herd is coming off of its second shutout of the season after falling, 7-0, to the University of Akron Tuesday.

Sophomore outfielder Corey Bird picked up his sixth stolen base on the season, but the Herd could not get timely hits with runners in scoring position.

Prior to that one-game contest, Marshall took two of three games from conference foe, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and gained valuable ground in the race for the final conference tournament spot.

Bird believes the success of the team starts with preparation as it is facing its biggest task this season.

“We have to be more focused and prepare better,” Bird said. “This is the most important series of the year. It’s a must win series.”

The Monarchs dropped their last game as well. Losing to former C-USA competitor Eastern Carolina University, 4-2 Wednesday.

The Thundering Herd finds itself four games out of sole-possession of the eighth and final seed for the conference tournament with 15 conference games to play.

ODU sits ahead of the Herd at three games out of the eighth seed.

The last time these two teams faced off, Old Dominion swept the Herd in a three-games series in May 2014.

The Monarchs outscored Marshall, 23-7, in Charleston as two of the three starting pitchers who took the mound for ODU are no longer with the team this season.

First pitch for game one is set for 6 p.m. Friday while games two and three are scheduled to begin 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday respectively.

The Thundering Herd will travel to Morgantown for one game against rival West Virginia University before more C-USA action.

Adam Polsky can be contacted at [email protected].