It didn’t look good for The Herd early on, trailing No. 19 Houston by nine runs midway through the fourth inning. However, Marshall stormed back bashing 15 runs over the final 4 1/2 innings to down the Cougars 19-13 Friday afternoon at Appalachian Power Park.
Marshall (12-17, 2-2 Conference USA) ended up with 21 hits in the ballgame and eight players recorded multiple hits in the contest. Isaac Ballou finished the day 3-for-6 and has now reached base in 21 straight games.
Houston started the game blazing hot plating six runs in the first two innings ending Marshall starter Chase Boster’s day after just 2 1/3 innings of work.
It appeared the nationally ranked Cougars would cruise to a blowout after they drove home five runs in the top of the third inning and two more in the in the fourth to take a 13-4 lead. Then Marshall’s bats came to life.
The comeback started in the fourth as the Herd scored seven runs, highlighted by homers by Nathan Gomez and Sergio Leon. Gomez smacked a two-run homer to draw Marshall to 13-6. Leon followed with a three-run blast to bring The Herd to within 13-11.
Marshall picked up where it left off in the fifth. Eric Escobedo doubled in the game-tying run with a shot into left center. Chase Vogelbach then drove in the go-ahead run with a single up the middle. Marshall scored six runs in fifth inning.
The Herd added insurance in the sixth thanks to an Escobedo double.