CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Thundering Herd has guaranteed itself a spot in the Conference USA Tournament after completing a sweep of UAB Sunday at Appalachian Power Park. It is the first time since 2010 that Marshall has earned a spot in the tournament.
Sunday’s 9-5 victory over the Blazers was the 27th win of the season for Marshall, which ties for second-most in program history with the 1978 and 2010 teams.
“It has been a team effort. We’ve had guys all the way through the lineup hitting well,” said coach Jeff Waggoner. “Our pitching staff, everybody kind of did their part to get the job done this weekend.”
The Herd, which has now won six in a row and eight of its last nine games, completed its first back-to-back series sweeps since joining Conference USA in 2006. Marshall swept Middle Tennessee last weekend.
Nobody on the Herd’s current roster was even born the last time the Marshall baseball team pulled off back-to-back sweeps in league play. Marshall hasn’t swept consecutive conference series since 1983 in the Southern Conference against Furman and Western Carolina.
Marshall had to comeback in the final two games of the series against the Blazers to pull off the sweep. On Saturday, Leo Valenti hit a solo walk-off homer in the 11th inning to secure the series victory for the Herd.
UAB was able to erase five-run deficit Sunday afternoon. The Herd saw the early lead evaporate in the fourth and sixth innings. Adam Smith’s two-run homer highlight the Blazers’ comeback.
However Marshall was able to break the deadlock in the eighth inning, plating four runs on just two hits. Cory Garrastazu drove-in Andrew Zaban on an RBI double. Garrastazu later came around to score on a UAB wild pitch and Tyler Ratliff tacked on a couple of insurance runs with a single to center field.
“Guys just stayed at a good approach and preparing the right way before games. All the way down through the lineup, guys just stepped up this weekend, even guys coming off the bench like Zban.”
On the mound, J.D. Hammer pitched the first four innings, allowing two runs on one hit. Joshua Shapiro was nearly perfect on the mound during the final three innings, not allowing a run and striking out two.
“It was great to see JD Hammer come back. He looked really good and he’s healthy. We will build his pitch count back up to give us some more innings. Then with Joshua Shapiro coming in there at the end of the game in back-to-back days to finish the job. I’m just proud of those guys and excited about the upcoming games.”
Marshall has a nonconference matchup Tuesday evening in Athens, OH against Ohio University. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.