Marshall Advances To C-USA Championship Game With 5-3 Win Over Southern Miss
May 25, 2008
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Thundering Herd second baseman Victor Gomez hit a two-out, two-run single to centerfield to break a 3-all deadlock as the sixth-seeded Marshall University baseball team punched its ticket to the 2008 Entergy Conference USA Baseball Championship Game with a 5-3 victory over second-seeded Southern Miss Sunday morning at the new Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.
Marshall trailed 3-2 after seven and a half innings, but designated hitter Kurt Lipton got things going in the bottom of the eighth with a leadoff walk and was lifted in favor of pinch runner Matt Helm. Helm stole second on the very next pitch and catcher Tommy Johnson followed with a single up the middle to tie the game at 3-all.
With one away, shortstop Adam Yeager hit a two-hopper back to the mound for an apparent groundout. Golden Eagles reliever Wade Weathers, however, could not field the ball cleanly and Marshall had runners on the corners with only one out. Weathers got a fly ball to center for the second out of the stanza, and following a passed ball which allowed Yeager to move to second, Southern Miss decided to intentionally walk three-hole hitter Nate Lape to load the bases.
The move backfired, however, as Gomez ripped a sinking line drive to center to plate a pair and send the Herd (30-29-1) to the C-USA Championship Game, which is slated to begin today at 1:06 p.m. Southern Miss (40-20), meanwhile, is eliminated from tournament play.
The two teams traded runs in the opening stanza as Southern Miss centerfielder Bo Davis hit a leadoff homer before Yeager scored on a sacrifice fly by Gomez to make it a 1-1 ballgame.
The Golden Eagles reclaimed the lead in the third on a sacrifice fly by second baseman James Ewing, and pushed the lead to two an inning later on a leadoff homer by left fielder Drew Carson. Marshall made it a one-run ballgame in the home half of the fourth when third baseman Brandon Casamissima belted a home run of his own.
Dan Strailey (5-4) earned the victory after tossing 2.0 perfect innings out of the bullpen. Collin Cargill (5-1) was tagged with the loss after allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits and three walks while fanning three in 3.1 innings of relief.
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