Marshall dropped both ends of a doubleheader at Wren Stadium against Ohio University by scores of 9-8 and 13-12 on Saturday afternoon in nonconference baseball action.
He finished the game 4-for-5 with a grand slam, two-run triple and two singles along with a stolen base for his most impressive stat line as a member of the Thundering Herd.
Game 1: Ohio 9, Marshall 8
Marshall coughed up an 8-5 lead in the bottom of the ninth as Ohio scored four times, capped off with a bloop foul-out sac fly to win game one of the doubleheader, 9-8.
Rhett Stafford led the offense going 3-for-4 with a two-run double, while Thor Meeks and Kenny Socorro each added a pair of hits. James Lavinskas scored three times in the loss.
Herd starter Shane Farrell did not figure in the decision, as the righthander worked a season-high 6.2 innings, giving up five runs (three earned) on seven hits with three strikeouts.
Reliever Tyler Stage had done an outstanding job in place of starter Matt Robin, but fell into a two-out issue in the seventh. After Stage plunked Lavinskas, Meeks clubbed a base hit to set the stage for Stafford. Already with two hits on the day, Stafford absolutely demolished a pitch to dead center, bouncing off the wall allowing both base runners to motor around and even the score.
Stage appeared to be rattled as he uncorked two wild pitches in a row to bring home Stafford to help the Herd regain the lead, 6-5.
MU added onto its small cushion when Meeks knocked in a run with a sac fly in the ninth and would score another on a very peculiar play. With two outs and Kris Hecktor at the dish someone from the stands yelled “balk” after OU reliever Tyler Backstrom threw a pitch. Maynard, who was on first as a pinch runner, slowly jogged towards second, but no balk was actually called by an umpire. He was able to stay in a rundown until Lavinskas scored as both were safe on the double steal.
The Herd led 8-5 entering the bottom half of the ninth, but the Bobcats used a four-run outburst on four hits capped off a game-winning foul out sac fly to first base. Victor Gomez made a great over-the-shoulder catch with one out in the ninth, turned and fired home but Bryan Barnes beat the throw to win in walk off fashion against the Herd, 9-8.
GAME 2: Ohio 13, Marshall 12
Isaac Ballou’s performance in the second game was nothing short of spectacular, as he knocked in eight runs including a grand slam, and Marshall scored four times in the top of the ninth but came up short, 13-12 in game two.
Beyond Ballou’s day in the batter’s box, Victor Ramos went 3-for-6 with three runs scored and two RBI, while Socorro, V.Gomez and Louie Helmburg each roped a pair of base hits.
In the top of the sixth, MU led 7-2 as Ballou had knocked in six of the seven runs thanks to his bases clearing blast in the fourth and two-run triple in the sixth.
Ohio answered back by scoring 11 runs over the course of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings as the MU staff struggled with control plunking six during the three-inning span (eight for the game).
Down 13-8 in the top of the ninth, the Herd batted around scoring four runs on five hits, including consecutive RBI singles from Ramos, Ballou and V.Gomez with two outs. With runnres on first and third, Kris Hecktor hit a seed but it was hauled in by OU shortstop Wes O’Neill to end the game, giving the Bobcats the twinbill sweep.