Marshall Battles Tulane in Weekend C-USA Series

Game times/probable starters:

Friday, 7:05 p.m. LHP Wayland Moore (2-1, 3.77) vs. RHP Tony Rizzotti (5-3, 1.83)

Saturday, 7:05 p.m. TBD vs. RHP Alex Byo (2-4, 3.19)

Sunday, 10 a.m. TBD vs. LHP David Napoli (3-2, 1.73)

All game times are subject to change. 

The weekend tilt between Marshall (15-24, 4-8 C-USA) and Tulane (20-21, 5-7 C-USA) will be the final series played at Power Park in 2013 as the Thundering Herd will face East Carolina at Linda K. Epling Stadium in Beckley, W.Va., later this season. 

All three games against the Green Wave can be tracked through CBS GameTracker and the Herd All-Access video stream.  Radio coverage will be provided by veterans Steve Cotton and Woody Woodrum on WRVC -- SuperTalk 94.1FM and AM 930. 

In the last meeting, Marshall avoided a sweep at Tulane’s Turchin Stadium in New Orleans, La., by drumming the Green Wave 10-0 in a seven-inning, run-ruled affair in the season finale.  Herd senior Isaac Ballou was a perfect 4-for-4 with a double, a walk, two RBI’s, and a run scored which capped off a weekend where he went 8-for-12 (.667). 

Ballou paces the Herd offense with a current ninth-best C-USA average of .315 this season.  Andrew Dundon, who has been the team’s hitting leader for nearly the entire season, maintains the team’s second-best average of .312 as the Herd enters the final month of the season. 

Last year’s meeting saw Marshall drop an 11-inning decision in game two when Tulane walked off with an Andrew Garner single up the middle. 

For the upcoming series, Tulane will throw three of the league’s top pitchers.  Sunday’s arm, David Napoli, holds the third-best league earned run average of 1.73 while Friday’s starter, Tony Rizzotti, ranks fifth in C-USA (1.83). 

Napoli ranks first in the league in opposing batting average (.147), earned runs allowed (eight), hits allowed (20), and total runs allowed (10). 

Shortstop Brennan Middleton leads the Tulane club in hitting as he boasts a .292 average.  His 50 hits are tied for fourth in C-USA.  Middleton batted an even .300 (3-for-10) in the series last year. 

Tulane owns a series victory over Memphis this season but has fallen to Southern Miss, Rice, and East Carolina.  Each series finished two games to one.