Herd holds on to beat Wright State, 9-7

Marshall scored in each of the first five innings to open a 9-2 lead, but was forced to hold off a late Wright State rally to earn a 9-7 win on Thursday afternoon at the Kennedy Center.

The Herd (24-29) plated two in the first. Kenny Socorro led off the inning with a single and James Lavinskas tripled to center to score him. Nathan Gomez produced a sacrifice-fly to bring Lavinskas home.

Marshall made it 3-0 in the second when Thor Meeks delivered a two-out home run to left field.

Wright State (29-21) cut its deficit to 3-2 in the third. The Raiders’ received a one out double by Casey McGrew and RJ Gundolff followed with a two-run shot to left.

Up 4-2 in the fourth, the Herd used a Nathan Gomez single and a pair of walks to load the bases with one out. Isaac Ballou and Kirby Pellant came through with two-run singles to push the lead to 8-2.

The largest margin of the game came in the fifth when Rhett Stafford homered to left field to make the score 9-2.

Wright State pulled to within 9-5 in the sixth. Quentin Cate led off the frame with a homer to left center. Marshall starter Ian Kadish then lost his command and issued three walks with a single mixed in to plate a run. The Raiders scored their second run when Casey McGrew hit into a fielder’s choice off new Herd pitcher Kyle Blank.

Tyler Gatrell was inserted to pitch the seventh for Marshall. Gatrell walked two batters, which set up a Ryan Ashe single to left that made it 9-6.

The Raiders did cut it to 9-7 on a sacrifice fly in the eighth, but were left to wonder what could have been after leaving the bases loaded in the seventh and eighth innings.

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Ian Kadish, who allowed five earned runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings, improved to 2-6 for Marshall. Austin Coan, the fifth pitcher of the game for the Herd, struggled with his control, but was able to overcome three walks to notch his tenth save.

Alex Kaminsky took the loss for Wright State. The Herd hung eight runs—seven earned—on the Raiders’ starter in just 3.1 innings.

Marshall and Wright State will conclude their series on Friday with a doubleheader. The teams will begin their twin bill at 11 a.m. (EST).