No. 6 Marshall Upsets No. 3 Tulane, 10-5 at C-USA Baseball Championship - CONFERENCEUSA.COM - The Official Athletic site of The Conference USA

No. 6 Marshall Upsets No. 3 Tulane, 10-5 at C-USA Baseball Championship
Thundering Herd Posts First-Ever Win in C-USA Championship

	Steve Blevins

May 21, 2008

Box Score in PDF Format

Sixth-seeded Marshall hit three home runs, stole six bases and received a complete-game pitching effort from Steve Blevins to post a 10-5 victory over No. 3 seed Tulane Wednesday night in the final game of the opening day of the 2008 Entergy C-USA Baseball Championship being hosted by Tulane University.

Marshall (27-28-1) got off to a good start thanks to Adam Yeager. The speedy junior has walked to lead off the first and third innings (on eight total pitches), stolen a base in each and scored both of the Thundering Herd's first two runs to give the Thundering Herd a 2-0 lead after three. The steals were the 39th and 40th for Yeager, moving him within one theft of the top five in C-USA single-season history.

In the fourth inning, Yeager would move into that top five with a steal of second. He then had a two-RBI single to center and proceeded to steal second and third. The five steals set a new C-USA Championship single-game record. Only Josh Hoffpauir of Southern Miss has ever stolen more than five bases in any C-USA game, swiping six vs. Cincinnati on April 29, 2000.

In all, Yeager would reach base in each of his five trips to the plate, scoring four times.

Marshall's first home run came from Brandon Casamassima in the fourth inning and put the Herd up 4-1. Their second was a blast from Nate Lape in the sixth that gave Marshall a 6-3. Homer number three came courtesy of Jeff Rowley, leading off a four-run seventh inning that moved the Herd up 10-3.

On the mound, Steve Blevins tossed his third complete game of the season, his second against the Green Wave. He allowed three earned runs on eight hits, striking out eight and walking five.

Tulane (36-19-1) started C-USA Pitcher of the Year Shooter Hunt, but he did not have his usual sharp outing. While he did strike out nine, he walked five and allowed five earned runs on six hits. Hunt nearly matched his season-high in pitches thrown, tossing 117 in six innings on the mound and suffering his third loss of the season.

Sam Honeck was Tulane's top hitter, going 2-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored.

Marshall's win concluded a day in which every even-numbered seed won and every odd-numbered seed lost. That is the first time that has occurred in C-USA Championship history.

Marshall advances to face Southern Miss at 7:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, while Tulane will play UCF in Thursday's second elimination game at 12 30 p.m. CT.