Marshall Baseball Recap
By Shane Darling, FM88 Sports
April 30, 2025
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (WMUL-FM) — Fifteen days ago, Marshall baseball was stunned when West Virginia University’s Chase Swain stole home in the top of the ninth inning in Huntington to give the Mountaineers a 5-4 lead. That lead would stand firm, and WVU took a 2-0 season series lead against its in-state rival. Tonight, Marshall (23-22) would shock the country and defeat the 16th nationally ranked Mountaineers (37-5) in a rare walk-off fashion.
The game was played at GoMart Ballpark in Charleston, the home of the Charleston Dirty Birds, and fans had to get to their seats quickly to catch the action. WVU scored two runs in the top of the first, one run coming from a Kyle West RBI double and another from a Marshall throwing error.
However, the Herd did not hang its head as AJ Havrilla stepped up in the bottom of the opening frame to rope a home run over the center field wall.
The middle innings were filled with extra-base hits as five total runs were scored between the two squads by either doubles or four-baggers.
West Virginia’s Sam White got the mid-game slug fest started with an RBI double in the top of the third to extend the Mountaineer lead to 3-1. Then, Marshall got to work in the fourth as Cam Harthan tagged an RBI double down the right field line to bring the Herd within one. The next at-bat, Marshall got to taste the lead for the first time as freshman Jackson Golden hit his first career home run to push the Herd up 4-3.
Kyle West continued his hard-hitting day the next half inning as he knotted things up with a solo shot to left center.
It seemed as though WVU may pull away in the sixth, as an RBI single by Grant Hussey and an RBI groundout by Brodie Kresser put the Mountaineers up 6-4. With a man on third base and the rally seeming to not be over, Chase Swain, the hero from the previous matchup who did not start this one, was inserted as a pinch hitter. However, the Herd was able to limit the damage and headed to the bottom of the sixth only down two.
Marshall threatened again in the following half inning as Joel Gardner was hit by a pitch and Harthan ripped his second double of the game to right field. This gave the freshman Golden a golden chance to come up big once again with runners on first and third. Golden did just that as he poked a single through the right side of the infield to knot the game up at 6 apiece.
The game went eerily quiet on the scoreboard as the game stayed 6-6 going into the ninth. Marshall’s Charlie Krebs was able to come in during the sixth inning and pitch three scoreless as the Herd earned itself a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth.
Right-handed sophomore Chase Meyer came in to pitch in the bottom of the ninth to give West Virginia a chance to live to play another day. Meyer looked in control, striking out Maika Niu, but then let four straight pitches get away from him as he walked AJ Havrilla. Eddie Leon would get his first hit of the night on his fifth at bat to give Marshall runners at first and second with one out. Up to the plate stepped redshirt-sophomore second baseman Tyler Kamerer, who chopped a bouncer to the third baseman Chase Swain.
Swain charged the ball and made a throw on the run across the diamond, but it sailed left of the first baseman Grant Hussey. Hussey stretched out and dived to stop the ball from getting past him, but the ball was destined for right field the entire way. Havrilla turned the corner at third, and a sea of white Marshall jerseys stormed the field after defeating one of the best college baseball teams in the country, 7-6.
Chase Swain, the hero from just over two weeks ago who pulled off the almost impossible steal of home while a right-handed pitcher was on the mound, made a costly error that would let the Herd salvage a win against its in-state rival.