Senior Tyler Smith went yard for the first time in his career during the Owls' 13-11 come-from-behind victory over Savannah. (Chris Allen/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge]

There may have been bigger moments in bigger games for the Marshall baseball program, but never a bigger comeback.

Call it "The Rally" in perpetuity, for the Owls will long remember how on a chilly April morning they rose from the brink of defeat -- overcoming a seven-run deficit in the seventh inning for a 13-11 victory over Savannah in the round-robin Marshall Tournament.

Marshall assistant coach John Makings could be heard telling fans afterwards how "the seniors stepped up," and truer words may never be spoken. For it was a pair of three-run, two-out homers that did it -- Ethan Williams fanning the flames of hope to close the margin to one run and Josh Glassmaker's opposite-field shot, not hurt by a prevailing southerly breeze, that proved to be the game-winner.

Considering how badly the Owls had lost less than 12 hours earlier to Grain Valley, 17-2 in a merciful five innings, the second win in as many days proved emotionally uplifting. The first victory, a 9-7 Friday morning decision over Pleasant Hill, was merely relief.

Marshall had been hitting the ball hard most of the game against the Savages (5-5), but too often into the reliable glove of junior shortstop Travis Partridge. The Rally got a particular boost when senior Travis Smith -- earlier belting a solo homer which needed no assistance and doubling in a run with a gapper -- came through with the first of five straight two-out hits to close the gap to 11-7.

After Williams' shot, senior Jared Porter rekindled The Rally with a single and senior Andy Dautenhahn followed with his second single of the inning. Then came Glassmaker, who had already contributed a double to the onslaught.

Dautenhahn gave up a lead-off single, and nothing else, to get the win. The Rally also took off of the hook for an undeserved loss senior Kodi Phillips, an all-NCMC catcher making his first-ever varsity pitching appearance. With four games to play over two days, the Marshall meet is a perennial test of pitching depth.

However, one great inning does not a season make, and the Owls' continuing defensive woes plagued them -- including six errors Saturday night in what amounted to a championship game, a 14-1, six-inning loss to Chillicothe.

The Hornets (9-2) did enough on their own to win -- junior Clayton Dahlberg tossing a two-hitter and cracking a pair of homers and senior Tyson Blattner driving in five runs with three hits -- but were helped immensely by six Marshall errors for 10 unearned runs. All seven of Chillicothe's sixth-inning runs were unearned.

The best defensive game for the Owls was the opener against Pleasant Hill, in which they booted the ball only three times. Phillips had a two-run single in the second inning and brought in another pair of runs with a double in the third to give Marshall an 8-1 lead.

After the Roosters (5-4) had closed to within 8-5 in the bottom of the third on senior Kevin Robles' three-run double, senior Jared Porter relieved and retired six straight batters. Junior Cory McComas took over in the fifth, got the Owls out of another jam and tossed two hitless frames to save Porter's win.

Grain Valley (5-3) banged out 12 hits, four by sophomore Jake Talamante and three more from junior David Richards during a five-RBI performance, but also benefited from seven Marshall errors.

The Owls (2-6) had 21 errors for a whopping 33 unearned runs during the tourney, although batted .307 as a team after going into the weekend with a paltry .174 season average.

Glassmaker led Marshall with seven hits and six runs scored and is now hitting .417.

The Birds' pitchers also walked 17 batters and hit 10 more in 25 innings, but lowered their earned-run average from 7.00 to 5.71.

The Owls will play back-to-back road games this week, Tuesday at Helias and Wednesday at Moberly.