MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.—Sluggish offense and mistakes in the field ultimately led to Marshall’s downfall in the final three games of the Caravelle Resort Tournament in South Carolina. The Herd fell to James Madison 5-2 and Coastal Carolina 2-1 on Saturday then dropped a 5-3 decision to Coastal Carolina on Sunday.
On Saturday, James Madison held Marshall hitless until the fourth inning when Sergio Leon smacked a double in to right field. The Herd got runners to first and third with nobody out in the inning, but the threat was quickly extinguished. The Duke’s Andrew Istler struckout Andrew Dundon then got Cory Garrastazu to ground into an inning in double play.
JMU plated a run in the third inning then blew the game up with a four-run seventh.
Marshall cut the deficit with two runs in the bottom of the seventh and threatened again in the eighth. The Herd loaded the bases with nobody out but could not drive a run across. Robert Fajardo was cut down at the plate attempting to tag up and score on a fly ball to right field then Garrastazu grounded out to end the threat.
Michael Taylor took the loss on the mound, going 4.2 innings allowing one run on six hits.
In the second game of the day, Marshall couldn’t overcome four errors and fell to Coastal Carolina 2-1. The Herd wasted starting pitcher Matt Margaritonda’s best performance of the season. The junior threw 6.2 innings and struckout six batters.
Sunday afternoon, it appeared Marshall would end its trip to South Carolina with a victory but blew a 5-3 lead in the ninth, falling to Rhode Island 6-5.
With the game tied at 3-3, Marshall took a two-run lead in the top of the eighth inning. Marshall loaded the bases and Sergio Lean ripped a ball down the third base line that was misplayed and allowed Matt Reed to score. With the bases still juiced, Brenden Wells earned a walk to give The Herd a two-run advantage.
However, the bullpen could not hold the lead. Kolin Stanley, walked the leadoff batter in the bottom of the ninth then gave up back to back singles , cutting Marshall’s lead to a single run. Sam Hunter replaced Stanley on the mound but the Rams singled into left field to tie the game. Rhode Island scored the game winning run on a sacrifice fly.
The Herd is now 3-8 on the season. It will open conference play this weekend on the road at East Carolina.