6:00: Morning News

Herd to play for C-USA regular season title

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — It’s already been a record-setting season for the Thundering Herd baseball team, setting a new program record for most wins in a season. Now, Marshall has an opportunity to win its first Conference USA regular season championship. The Thundering Herd maintained at least a share of first-place Friday afternoon with a 4-3 win over Old Dominion, improving to 32-18 overall and 21-8 in Conference USA.

Marshall received a quality outing on the mound from junior Parker Danciu, who allowed three runs and scattered eight hits in his fifth win of the season.

“Parker has been doing that the last half of the year. We knew what we were going to get, he was going to attack the zone and pitch to contact,” said coach Jeff Waggoner.

“He was going to give us a chance to win and he did that today.”

The Herd jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom the first inning. Tommy Lane and Ryne Dean each had run scoring singles to give Marshall the early advantage.

ODU answered in the top of the fourth, with two runs on three hits.

Marshall retook the lead in the fifth on a sacrifice fly to right center by Tyler Ratliff. The Herd added a crucial insurance run in the sixth. Corey Bird’s RBI single up the middle gave the Herd a two-run cushion.

“They’ve been doing it all year, all the way down through the lineup. They expect to have great at bats, and have good approaches in RBI situations. It’s someone new every day and that’s what makes a good team. Just extremely proud of our seniors in a special weekend to see these guys play the way they are.”

The extra run proved to be critical in the top of the eighth when the Monarchs cut the Marshall lead to one on a solo homer.

Junior Burris Warner came on in the eighth in relief of Danciu and shut down ODU to record the save.

Marshall finishes the series with the Monarchs Saturday at 11 a.m. at Appalachian Power Park.





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