HUNTINGTON — Marshall won its final regular-season baseball game of the season in walk-off fashion on Saturday in the 10th inning, beating Georgia Southern 9-8 on an RBI single from Maika Niu for a series sweep.
“Good win. They’re a good ball club, Georgia Southern, and are an established program in our conference,†Marshall coach Greg Beals said. “It speaks to ... the competitiveness. You’ve heard me say that so often. We continue to do it.â€
The Thundering Herd entered as one of four teams with 30 or more wins in the Sun Belt Conference this season and finished with a conference record of 16-14, tied with Louisiana for fourth. Marshall has now won 13 of its last 15 games.
With an early-season series win over Southern Miss, Marshall won the tiebreaker against the Ragin’ Cajuns to be the No. 4 seed in the SBC tournament.
Though the tiebreaker procedure seems moot, as Marshall will play Louisiana in the 4-5 matchup in the first round of the SBC tournament, the Herd will bat as the home team.
The Herd honored Tim Baird, Fenix DiGiacomo, Eddie Leon, Alex McKay, Elijah Vogelsong, Nicholas Weyrich and Nolan Wilson before the game on its senior day.
Nine Marshall players graduated in spring commencement ceremonies — Baird, Jack Dedonato, DiGiacomo, Joel Gardner, Leon, Ethan Murdoch, Vogelsong, Weyrich and Wilson.
Niu entered the game on a six-game home run streak — tied for the longest in Sun Belt history with Jacksonville’s Jeff DePiano, who did so in 1983. While that streak ended on Saturday, Niu’s RBI single lifted Marshall to a crucial victory.
It was a game of ebbs and flows. Marshall’s lead grew to 6-0 before the Eagles made a comeback and took a two-run lead. The Herd tied the game in the bottom of the ninth before Niu won it in the 10th.
“We get down, we score two and then we score the game-winner,†Beals said. “There’s never a feeling of disbelief in our clubhouse or dugout. That’s the guys. It’s one thing for a coach to have philosophies and core values and try to create a culture, but the guys live the culture. That’s been a lot of fun for me to see that happen and see this ball club do that.â€
Marshall got three hits from Eddie Leon in a 3-for-4 performance. The Herd got doubles from AJ Havrilla and Leon.
Marshall scored nine runs on 12 hits. Murdoch and Cam Harthan also had two hits apiece.
Leon started things with an RBI single to center to score Niu. A wild pitch allowed Havrilla to score before Murdoch hit another RBI single to give Marshall a 3-0 lead after one frame.
Wind blew hard for much of the day. Two Georgia Southern fielders lost their hats during warmups, and it allowed for potent hitting on both ends.
Marshall kept it up in the second. Wilson walked, Harthan singled and Tyler Kamerer reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases. Jackson Halter then singled to score Wilson.
A throwing error gave a run to Marshall before Havrilla got an RBI on a double play to give Marshall a 6-0 lead after two.
Then came the Eagles.
Georgia Southern’s Juju Stevens found his first home run of the year and sent it 472 feet in the fourth for three runs to dig into the deficit.
Stevens entered the game with only 18 at-bats and had just a .111 average on the season before his career day, finishing with a double and the game-changing homer.
Sean White followed in the fifth with a two-run homer of his own, his eighth of the season, and Georgia Southern cut its deficit to one, 6-5.
The Eagles tied the game in the top of the sixth as Stevens doubled for his fourth RBI. Georgia Southern then bunted twice to take the lead, 7-6.
Marshall left two runners on in the bottom of the sixth while Georgia Southern continued to push ahead. Trammell tripled to the right field wall for a two-run lead.
Marshall swapped pitchers to Charlie Krebs. Krebs took care of the inning to keep the Herd within two runs as crunch time began. Krebs and Weyrich ultimately combined to hold Georgia Southern without a run for the final 3 1/3 innings.
After pumping five hits in less than two innings, the Herd was held to three hits from that point until the ninth. But there was never a lapse of confidence.
“The whole game, we know we can do it,†Leon said. “We were quiet from the third through the eighth, but sometimes that’s just how it is. As long as you get it done, it doesn’t matter when.â€
Marshall’s last chance began with Kamerer, the No. 9 hitter, in the bottom of the ninth. He singled to left field and brought the top of the Herd’s order back up. Halter, the leadoff, walked.
Niu hit a sacrifice fly to push Kamerer to third before a Havrilla walk loaded the bases for Leon.
Leon fought six pitches before a sacrifice fly to bring the Herd within one. Ethan Murdoch then singled to send the game to extras.
“We’re never out of it, man,†Leon said. “I’ve been saying since the beginning of the season that there’s not a team in the country that we cannot play with. We love each other. We’re a family. We will compete until the last out, man. It’s just the culture, and we’re seeing the fruits of it.â€
Weyrich struck out Josh Tate looking in the top of the 10th while he had a runner at second base. Tate is the SBC’s leader in batting average at .371. Marshall held him to a 1-for-5 day.
The Herd got another chance to win and seized it.
Wilson singled up the middle on an 0-2 count before Harthan dropped a sacrifice bunt to move Will Lafferty, pinch-running for Wilson, to second. Kamerer walked before he and Lafferty pulled off a double steal.
The bases were loaded for Niu. Georgia Southern swapped pitchers, but Niu took just one pitch before crushing it down the line for the win.
“We’re obviously in a great situation there in the ninth. We get the leadoff hit, a perfect sacrifice bunt to get the runner at second with Will Lafferty’s speed. We put him in there, and we were going for the win,†Beals said. “They pitched around Halter, but we have Halter, Niu and Havrilla on deck. We’re in the right spot in the lineup. These guys are playing with a lot of confidence.â€
The SBC tournament runs from Tuesday through Sunday. Marshall’s run begins on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. in game six. The tournament will be streamed on ESPN+ in its entirety, including the championship game.
“We’re not done,†Beals said. “We’re excited about going to Montgomery (Alabama) and playing in the tournament. I told the guys right away that one team will leave Montgomery as a champion. We are going to spend every moment thinking about that and thinking about being that team.â€
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 000 322 100 0 — 8 12 2
MARSHALL 330 000 002 1 — 9 12 0
Vandenbosch, Mackowiak (2), DeGondea (5), Smith (9), Burke (10), Robbins (10) and Leis; Moak, DiGiacomo (6), Krebs (8), Weyrich (9) and Wilson. Hitting: (Georgia Southern) Herrholz 2-5, Stevens 2-4 4 RBI 2B HR, White 1-3 2 RBI HR, Tate 1-5 2B, Senese 1-5 2B, Kaiser 2-2; (Marshall) Havrilla 1-3 2B, Leon 3-4 2 RBI 2B, Murdoch 2-3, Harthan 2-4.
