Baseball Welcomes No. 13 UCF for Final Home Series
Saturday's game will celebrate the Herd's four seniors

Thor Meeks will be one of four seniors honored on Saturday

Thor Meeks will be one of four seniors honored on Saturday

May 10, 2012

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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- In its final home series of 2012, the Thundering Herd baseball team will welcome No. 13 Central Florida to Appalachian Power Park in Charleston, W.Va. for a three-game Conference USA series Friday through Sunday. 

Friday and Saturday’s games are scheduled for 2:05 p.m. starts with the Sunday finale set for 10:05 a.m. 

Prior to Saturday’s first pitch, the Marshall baseball program will honor Jesse Fernandez, Mike Mason, Thor Meeks, and Eric Semeniuk as the four departing seniors. 

Tickets for Saturday’s matchup are $10 and include the one-time offer of a free pass to the pregame cookout beginning at 1:30 p.m.  The cookout will take place in the party deck in right field and will include hot dogs, hamburgers, and a variety of side dishes and beverages. 

Herd fans should purchase tickets by contacting the Marshall ticket office at 800-THE-HERD.  Each ticket is also valid for the West Virginia Power game later Saturday evening. 

Fans unable to attend the series can follow the live action through video stream on the CBS All-Access page.  All three games can also be tracked via CBS Gametracker. 

UCF (38-11, 13-5 C-USA) brings one of the fastest teams in the nation to Power Park for the upcoming series.  The Knights have 80 stolen bases this season which puts them nearly 30 ahead of everyone else in Conference USA.  Junior Ronnie Richardson leads the team and the conference with an individual mark of 20.  Marshall’s Isaac Ballou (19) ranks just one behind Richardson for the conference lead.

Richardson has a knack for getting on base as he currently holds the second-best on-base percentage (.468) among league players.  The centerfielder’s OBP has helped him come around to score 42 times, which is tied with teammate Alex Friedrich for third in C-USA. 

Ben Lively, a right-handed pitcher scheduled for Friday’s start, is one of only two pitchers in the conference to have reached eight wins this year.  His 8-1 record comes alongside an earned run average of 2.25, fourth best in the league. 

Lively has recorded 64 strikeouts (sixth in C-USA) and holds the spot behind the Herd’s Aaron Blair (fifth-place, 74 Ks). 

Marshall (15-32, 3-15 C-USA) is looking to snap a season-long five-game losing skid and avoid any more losses in the late innings.  Each of the last three games for the Herd have been decided in one of the final three innings, including two walk-off defeats the Herd suffered to East Carolina and Eastern Kentucky. 

Nathan Gomez remains Marshall’s hitting leader with a .313 average.  The junior first baseman’s 13 doubles this season are tied with Shreve and Tulane’s Jeremy Schaffer for third in C-USA.