By Thomas Duzan
On Thursday the Marshall Lions were back in action at Hornbrook Field, playing host to the Olney Tigers at Hornbrook Field. It was originally set to be played Monday, but inclement weather bumped it and the softball game to Thursday. There were a few highlights, including a historic home run from Garrett Pugh, but it was more struggles otherwise as the Tigers came away victorious by a final of 14-4.
Not long after committing to the baseball program at Olney Central College, Payton McGuire took the ball on the mound as the Lions starting pitcher for this game. However, he struggled with his command from early stages of the game. The game began with a walk to Brody Redman. After that, Cooper Hires had an infield single, then Gavin Root walked.
Another walk to Owen Cycholl with the bases loaded brought a run in to score. It would take a two-run RBI single from Keegan Puckett before the first out was finally registered with a strikeout of Mattey Sanders. A total of 11 Tiger hitters plated six runs in the first.
There wasn’t much counter noise from the Lion bats in the bottom of the inning. Branson Maskell and Tucker Osborn both struck out. The noise that did come was off the bat of Garrett Pugh, who torched one out to left field for a solo home run. That home run sets a new school record of eight, surpassing none other than assistant coach K.J. Rogers who previously had seven. That sent the game to the second with Olney up 6-1.
After a laborious first inning, McGuire settled in more on the mound. He got the first two outs with a strikeout of Root and got Cycholl to line out to the shortstop. He did give up a hit to Nolen Seals and a walk to Puckett but left them stranded on base when he struck out Sanders.
It was a similar note in the bottom of the second for Marshall. Following Eli Thompson striking out and Ayden Houpt grounding out, Max Welsh came up with a two-out double to put him in scoring position. He advanced to third on a wild pitch but was stranded there when Gavan Propst popped out. So after two innings the Lions still trailed 6-1.
Reed Ramey came on to pitch in relief in the top of the third and kept Olney off the scoreboard. He did surrender a two out walk to Redman but otherwise retired the side. The Lions went down in order in their half of the third as Liam Keim grounded out, Maskell flew out and Osborn grounded out to send the game to the fourth still 6-1 Olney.
Ramey retired the side in order in the top of the fourth, getting strikeouts of Root and Cycholl and then getting Seals to fly out. The bottom of the fourth saw the Lions cut into the deficit with two runs. Pugh and Ramey both started off with walks. Thompson looked to bunt them over, but the bunt was popped up and became out number one.
From there Houpt would get on base thanks to an error, on which Pugh came around to score. An RBI single for Welsh then brought in Ramey after that. Houpt then looked to score also but was thrown out at home. Propst popped out to end the inning but not before Marshall had chipped further into the deficit, making it 6-3 going to the fifth.
An infield hit for Puckett and a walk to Sanders started the top of the fifth, but the side was retired after that as Jack Thomann struck out, Brody Snyder popped out on an infield fly and Redman popped out as well. Keim started the bottom of the fifth off with a single.
After Maskell flew out, Osborn grounded into a fielder’s choice. Pugh then drew his second walk of the game, but Ramey popped out to end the inning and leave two runners on base. So the game went on to the sixth with Olney up 6-3.
It was in the top of the sixth when the Tigers blew the game open. Walks to Hires and Root got it started. Then a run came across on an RBI single for Cycholl, who would later come across to score on a wild pitch. Later in the inning, a one out RBI single for Sanders brought Ramey’s outing to a close and saw Keim come in.
He would hit Carter Blank with a pitch and walk Snyder, but he then got Redman to ground into the unconventional 3-2-3 double play to end the damage, but not before four more runs came across. Thompson led the bottom of the sixth off with a single, then Houpt struck out.
Following a groundout for Welsh, Propst reached on an error. Keim would strike out to send the game to the seventh with a new look, the Tigers now up 10-3.
Four more runs came across for Olney in the top of the seventh on an RBI sacrifice fly for Cycholl, an RBI single for Blank and a two-run RBI single for Snyder. Marshall did manage to scratch across one more run when Pugh and Ramey both came up with two out hits, and Thompson drove in Pugh with an RBI single. But Houpt’s groundout to the shortstop brought an end to the game and gave the Tigers the 14-4 win.