Huntington, W. Va. — Former Lawrence Co. Baseball star Bryce Blevins now pitching at Marshall was named Sun Belt Conference pitcher of the week.
In a 5-4 loss to Manhattan on Saturday Blevins came on in relief with the Thundering Herd trailing 5-0 and went 7 and 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball, striking out a career high 9 Jaspers, walked three and allowed four hits.
On the season Marshall is 3-8 and Blevins, a sophomore, has pitched in four games and hasn’t recorded a decision yet. He has pitched 15.1 innings, struck out 12, walked 5, allowed 2 earned runs and gave up 15 hits with a 1.17 ERA.
As a Freshman he appeared in 17 games, including one start, threw 22.2 innings and had a 3-1 record with 25 strikeouts. He struck out five batters in 2.0 innings against Canisius on March 10th.
Marshall pitcher Bryce Blevins
PLAYER’S COMMENT
“… Opening the new stadium this weekend was like opening presents on Christmas morning. Throughout the years, all the questions about if there was ever going to be one and where has now all came to an end. It means even more to me to be able to have this stadium with my uncle having to go through not having one when he was here and now I get to be the first to play in new stadium. The way the community surrounded our team and got behind us this past weekend is something I will never forget. Couldn’t be more thankful to have what we have going right now.”
“… Coming into the game on Saturday in that 2nd inning, I knew we were never out of it. I knew that if I went out there and did my job that we would have a good chance to win it. I love competing when I am on the mound no matter if it’s against the other team or a scrimmage against my teammates. My goal was just to get my team back in the dugout to score runs each inning as quick as possible. Our crowd was amazing on Saturday. From the first pitch I threw to the last, they were behind me and my team each pitch no matter what the score was. The feeling of walking off to that standing ovation still makes me numb. Seeing everyone in our stadium stand up clapping for me was a dream come true, really. You watch movies and watch baseball games on tv and will see it, but the feeling you get when it actually happens to you is surreal. I’m blessed to have the people I have surrounding me and supporting me in my life!”
“… We are off to a slow start, but we have played some really good competition the first 3 weeks. Went to College of Charleston and lost four to start the year, spilt with Michigan St. and then two out three this past weekend. We are really close from being on the other side of all those losses. I have no doubt that this will all be turned around. This team is much fun to be around, everyone supports one another and has each other’s backs. I’m blessed to be able to walk out onto the field and compete with these guys on our team.”