March 21, 2008

Box Score

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - No. 11 Rice scored six unearned runs in the top of the fourth inning and never looked back, taking down the Thundering Herd baseball team by a score of 6-1 in its Conference USA opener Friday evening at Power Park in Charleston.

With the loss, Marshall falls to 8-9 overall, 0-1 C-USA, while Rice improves to 15-6 overall and 1-0 in conference action.

Marshall got on the board in the bottom of the first, scoring a run on Rice starting pitcher Ryan Berry. Junior shortstop Adam Yeager led the inning off with a walk and moved to second on a single by sophomore first baseman Josh Valle. After junior center fielder Nate Lape groundout advanced the runners, senior left fielder Jeff Rowley hit a sacrifice fly to center field to plate the first run of the game.

Herd junior left-handed starter Andrew Blain cruised through the first three innings, allowing just one hit over that span. That all changed in the fourth as Rice scored six runs to grab a 6-1 lead. The first two batters of the inning, Aaron Luna and Rick Hague, reached via a walk and an error, respectively. Following a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners, J.P. Padron grounded out to plate the Owl's first run of the game.

After two walks to load the bases, the second Marshall error of the inning gave Rice a 2-1 advantage. Next to the plate for the Owls was left fielder Derek Myers, who singled to left field to knock in two more runs and give the Owls a 4-1 lead. They would add two more runs on a Jared Gayhart double to make it a 6-1 game. All six of the runs scored by Rice in the inning were unearned.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Herd posed its top scoring threat since the first inning. Senior catcher Tommy Johnson led off with a single to center and with one out freshman second baseman Kenny Socorro singled to advance Johnson to second. With two outs, Valle's second single of the contest loaded the bases for Lape, but Berry won that battle, striking out Lape.

Each team finished the game with seven hits. Valle had two hits for the Herd while Rowley was credited with the Herd's RBI. For Rice, Myers and Hague had two hits apiece. Myers, along with Jared Gayhart each batted in two runs.

Blain pitched six innings, giving up six runs, none of which were earned. Five other Marshall pitchers appeared in the final three innings, combining to give up just two hits. Blain took the loss, dropping to 2-2 on the season while Berry, who went 6.1 innings, took the win, improving to 3-1.

Game two against the Owls will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday with Sunday's series finale set for noon at Power Park. Live streaming and GameTracker will be available for both games.