Tech (32-16, 13-11) will host Marshall (25-23, 12-12) in the final home series of the year. Marshall is a program that while they may not pitch it extremely well, they can flat out swing the bat. While the back half of Tech’s C-USA schedule hasn’t been extremely difficult, Marshall should provide perhaps the toughest test that Tech had in quite some time. Marshall finished second in the league last year with a 21-9 conference record and is looking to continue their climb up the C-USA standings this weekend.
Offensively Marshall is hitting .271 as a team while scoring almost 6 runs a game. They have clubbed 50 home runs on the year; equal to Tech. Sam Finfer leads them with a .346 average along with 16 home runs and 48 RBI. Tyler Ratliff, one of the better prospects in the league is hitting .304 with 11 home runs and 46 RBI. These two have combined for 27 of the 50 home runs so it will be key to keep them in the yard and prevent their offense from really getting going. If there is a weak spot offensively, they do have a propensity to strike out a good deal. They also don’t have a ton of team speed much like Tech having only 46 stolen bases this year.
On the mound, the Thundering Herd has compiled a 5.69 team era. They are giving up an astounding 1.8 baserunners per inning. Last weekend Wade Martin, Jacob Niggemeyer, and Will Ray got the weekend starts. Martin is their best arm with a 4.09 ERA, to go along with a .239 opponent’s batting average. Niggemeyer has a 5.93 ERA while allowing opponents to hit .339 off of him. Ray has only started 4 games and over 34+ innings has pitched to a 4.19 ERA. Take out his 7 shutout innings against a bad WKU squad and he has just a 5.27 ERA. Tech will have to put some pressure on Martin to get him out of the game, but outside of him the staff isn’t exactly world beaters.
Jordan Washam is expected to return this weekend which should be a big shot in the arm for Tech. Tech has gone 3-2 over the five games he has missed. If Tech can go 4-2 over the final 6 games I think they will be in a great spot heading into the C-USA Tournament for a Regional bid. This team has really played well the last five weeks and knowing that it is the final weekend for 15 seniors you have to figure they will play well. This senior class has changed the entire identity of the Tech baseball program.
Mark Baughman is the only four year senior on the roster. Baughman has played for 3 different head coaches during his tenure at Tech.
Boggs, Daigle, Jordan Washam, Jonathan Washam, Holcombe, Harris, Linck, Lunceford, Gladu, Colby Hamilton, Zack Hamilton, Sullivan, Sutton, and Ullrich represent a junior college class that has won 74 games over the past two years. I can over state how special these guys really are. It is not a class that is filled with MLB draft picks, but they compete their tails off. They play the game harder than any team in the country and it is such a fun brand of baseball to watch. If you’re in town this weekend come out and support these guys, they deserve it and most importantly they have earned it.
Offensively Marshall is hitting .271 as a team while scoring almost 6 runs a game. They have clubbed 50 home runs on the year; equal to Tech. Sam Finfer leads them with a .346 average along with 16 home runs and 48 RBI. Tyler Ratliff, one of the better prospects in the league is hitting .304 with 11 home runs and 46 RBI. These two have combined for 27 of the 50 home runs so it will be key to keep them in the yard and prevent their offense from really getting going. If there is a weak spot offensively, they do have a propensity to strike out a good deal. They also don’t have a ton of team speed much like Tech having only 46 stolen bases this year.
On the mound, the Thundering Herd has compiled a 5.69 team era. They are giving up an astounding 1.8 baserunners per inning. Last weekend Wade Martin, Jacob Niggemeyer, and Will Ray got the weekend starts. Martin is their best arm with a 4.09 ERA, to go along with a .239 opponent’s batting average. Niggemeyer has a 5.93 ERA while allowing opponents to hit .339 off of him. Ray has only started 4 games and over 34+ innings has pitched to a 4.19 ERA. Take out his 7 shutout innings against a bad WKU squad and he has just a 5.27 ERA. Tech will have to put some pressure on Martin to get him out of the game, but outside of him the staff isn’t exactly world beaters.
Jordan Washam is expected to return this weekend which should be a big shot in the arm for Tech. Tech has gone 3-2 over the five games he has missed. If Tech can go 4-2 over the final 6 games I think they will be in a great spot heading into the C-USA Tournament for a Regional bid. This team has really played well the last five weeks and knowing that it is the final weekend for 15 seniors you have to figure they will play well. This senior class has changed the entire identity of the Tech baseball program.
Mark Baughman is the only four year senior on the roster. Baughman has played for 3 different head coaches during his tenure at Tech.
Boggs, Daigle, Jordan Washam, Jonathan Washam, Holcombe, Harris, Linck, Lunceford, Gladu, Colby Hamilton, Zack Hamilton, Sullivan, Sutton, and Ullrich represent a junior college class that has won 74 games over the past two years. I can over state how special these guys really are. It is not a class that is filled with MLB draft picks, but they compete their tails off. They play the game harder than any team in the country and it is such a fun brand of baseball to watch. If you’re in town this weekend come out and support these guys, they deserve it and most importantly they have earned it.
