HUNTINGTON — While the Marshall University baseball team’s trip to Hawaii last week wasn’t fruitful in the win column, it was a major opportunity for both bonding and experience as a potential postseason preview.
Herd coach Greg Beals was happy with the flashes that the Thundering Herd showed, even in being swept in four games by the Rainbow Warriors, he said.
“We knew this was going to be challenging on the travel side,” Beals said. “I thought it was an opportunity and good experience for our student-athletes. Everything turned out well. A lot of them had never been to Hawaii.
“Playing against a West Coast style of baseball that hopefully we will see again in postseason play was good for the program. That was something I wanted to do.”
Marshall arrived early to take in the area and get in a practice ahead of the series.
“We went to Pearl Harbor, spent some time on the beach and had a great time in practice,” Beals said. “Thursday was great for us. We didn’t win any games, and that was clearly the No. 1 reason we went out there. But it was still a valuable experience.”
Marshall’s Ethan Murdoch put on a show, hitting three home runs and batting .462 for the weekend. He quickly climbed into the No. 4 spot in the lineup by the end of the series.
Game one was an example of those flashes as Marshall led 5-0 after three innings. Bryce Blevins, a preseason All-Sun Belt Conference selection, pitched five frames and allowed just three runs.
“We played pretty good baseball, to be honest,” Beals said. “We lost all of our games, so we got whooped at the end of the day. But we did a lot of things well. I thought we dominated on Friday night. We were the better team until the final score showed up.”
Nicholas Weyrich had a strong showing in relief, facing eight batters and not allowing a hit or run, but the Herd ultimately came up short, losing 9-8 in walk-off fashion.
“I think the big story from us is that we had a chance to win two of those games,” Beals said. “We let two of them get away from us. I thought we played better than them twice, and that they played better than us twice. In the two games that we played better, we found a way to not hold on. Good teams find a way to win.”
Beals complimented Weyrich’s performance — while saying the Herd must complement it.
“Not needing Nick Weyrich to do everything in the bullpen [is important],” Beals said. “There were some positives. Offensively and defensively, we showed signs that we can be really good.”
Another point of interest is defending steal attempts. Hawai’i was perfect in 10 opportunities.
Beals doesn’t chalk it up to one aspect of the throw down, but instead said everyone must be sharper.
It parlays into a larger focus of being efficient, especially in the clutch. In the last game, Marshall tied Hawai’i in hits but failed to get the timely ones, leaving nine on base. It also had three errors and hit into a double play.
“The biggest thing for me from Day One was clean baseball,” Beals said. “From a talent standpoint, we matched up with them. The scoreboard wasn’t evident, 10-2 final, but we were 9-9 with them in hits. Talent-wise, we’re there.
“We harp on playing clean baseball — throwing strikes, not walking guys and not committing errors. I think it was 14-5 in free bases [Sunday]. One of the comments I gave was how clean Hawai’i played. They didn’t give us anything. They are very good at that standpoint.”
Making the most of chances late in innings was also a trend Beals saw from Hawai’i that he would like to see from the Herd.
“We were beat bad on two-out hits. You either put runs on the scoreboard, or you go out and play defense,” Beals said. “Our guys have to get more comfortable in competition with finding a way to win those opportunities.”
Marshall has another four-game series at Georgia Tech, beginning on Friday, before the home opener with Fairleigh-Dickinson University on Feb. 28 at Jack Cook Field at 3 p.m.
“I think that this team has bonded extremely well, even before this weekend,” Beals said. “It’s a great group. I’m excited to see how we bounce back from this. I want to see how this family and the camaraderie that we have tightens up.
“We had a smooth fall. We whooped Ohio. We played Kent [State] and had a lot of really good things in the preseason. Sometimes a kick in the pants is what you need to keep moving forward.”
