Huntington, WV - The Eastern Kentucky baseball team fell in extra innings for the second-consecutive day, dropping a 5-4 decision at Marshall. The Thundering Herd loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the 10th and scored the winning run off a balk by junior Greg Harper.
Marshall (12-20) tied the game at 4-all in the bottom of the seventh off a RBI double from Joe Glevenyak. The two teams went scoreless over the next two frames, with Eastern (10-21) stranding three runners in the eighth, to send the game into extra innings.
Harper (0-1) opened the 10th by hitting Glevenyak with a pitch. The senior moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt, then took third on a wild pitch. Harper intentionally walked Bubba Pfaff to put runners on the corners and bring in the potential for a double play ball. After striking out Roddy Stieger for the second out, Harper walked Adam Ptacek then committed a balk to let Glevenyak score the winning run.
David Slovak (2-4) pitched the final 3.0 innings of shutout ball to earn the win for Marshall. EKU junior Brett Bolger led the way for EKU with three hits, including two doubles, and drove in two runs in the losing effort.
Marshall took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second off a RBI single by Ptacek and a sacrifice fly from Matt Helm. Eastern battled back to tie the game at 2-all in the third, as senior Adam Visnic scored from third off a fielding error and Bolger plated freshman Lucas Waters with a RBI double.
Ptacek put the Herd ahead 3-2 in the fourth with a sacrifice fly, before EKU took a 4-3 lead by manufacturing runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Bussell scored to tie the game at 3-all in the fourth off Bolger's second double. Visnic then put Eastern ahead by following singles from seniors Will Whisenant and Bryan Stevenson with a RBI base knock.
The Colonels enjoyed a 13-11 hitting advantage in the contest, but went hitless over the final two innings. Visnic tied Bolger with three hits in the loss, followed by two from Stevenson. Freshman catcher Joe Oliver threw out three of four base runners on stolen base attempts in the game.
Eastern returns to action this weekend when it heads to Samford for a pivotal Ohio Valley Conference series.
