MONROE, La. – Marshall pounded out 16 hits and racked up 13 runs, scoring in seven out of nine innings, as the Thundering Herd took the series opener from ULM, 13-6, Friday afternoon at Lou St. Amant Field.
 
With wind gusts blowing out to left field at 40 miles per hour, both offenses went to work. All 10 Marshall (12-11 overall, 3-4 Sun Belt Conference) players that stepped to the plate had at least one hit, with Luke Edwards, Kyle Schaefer, Gio Ferraro, Calin Smith, Chris Noble and Christian Lucio tallying two hits each. Nine of the 10 Marshall players had an RBI, with only Elijah Vogelsong, who only stepped to the plate once and picked up a hit with a run scored, missing out on an RBI opportunity. Edwards had three RBIs while Schaefer had two. Marshall had four doubles and Lucio hit the Herd's only home run of the day.
 
ULM (9-18, 0-7) was led by two hits each by Shawn Dalton Weatherbee and Cardell Thibodeaux. Thibodeaux had two doubles, while Kade Dupont hit a 2-run home run in the first inning.
 
Marshall built a 10-4 lead after scoring two runs in the top of the eighth inning. ULM scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth as Thibodeaux scored on a wild pitch and Weatherbee's RBI single with two outs scored Matt Abshire. After Dupont was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Marshall reliever Ryan Capuano struck out Riley Davis to end the threat. The Herd then struck for three runs in the top of the ninth to put the game out of reach.
 
Patrick Copen (2-2) picked up the win for Marshall, throwing six innings with four runs on seven hits, one walk and four strikeouts. Capuano earned his fifth save by firing 1 1/3 shutout innings with a walk and three strikeouts. Cam Barlow (1-4) took the loss for ULM, pitching 1 1/3 innings in the start, allowing four runs, two earned, on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
 
The series continues at 2 p.m. Saturday at Lou St. Amant Field.