HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall baseball earned its third victory of the season by defeating the North Carolina A&T Aggies 6-2 Friday night.
Starter Josh King earned his first win of the year. The senior put in six innings of work, giving up three hits and a walk while fanning six.
The Herd presented an interesting situation, scoring two runs before earning its first hit.
The sixth inning began with a Sergio Leon walk. The Herd was given its second base runner two pitches later when freshman Corey Bird was hit by a pitch. When designated hitter Chase Vogelbach dropped a sacrifice bunt, A&T tried to make the out at third but couldn’t get the speedy Leon.
With bases loaded, a balk was called on Aggies’ starter Tyler Boone. An Andrew Dundon sacrifice fly allowed Bird to score, giving the Herd a 2-0 lead.
Junior Eric Escobedo soon changed that, cracking a single to left field to score Vogelbach. Escobedo later scored off a sac fly from first baseman TJ Diffenderfer.
The Herd kept the Aggies off the board until the eighth, when reliever Kyle Kessler gave up a two-run homer.
Redshirt sophomore Lance Elder came on in the ninth. In just 13 pitches, the right-hander struck out two batters and got a flyout to seal the win.
Leon went 2-for-3 with two runs. Freshman Cory Garrastazu continued his hot streak, going 2-for-5.