Pirates earn split behind Joyner, Wright

From electronic and staff reports
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Junior southpaw Tyler Joyner's sterling mound performance and a clutch two-run double by senior catcher Zach Wright helped East Carolina claim a 3-1 victory over Western Carolina Saturday afternoon in the rain-delayed Keith LeClair Classic at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

After dropping a decision to Purdue earlier in the day, the win over the Catamounts gave the Pirates (5-1) a shot of momentum going into a 2 p.m. matchup with Maryland on Sunday, the Classic's final day.

With ECU trailing 1-0 after 5 1/2 innings, senior third baseman Corey Thompson scored on junior first baseman John Wooten's single to knot the score before Wright delivered his decisive double-bagger, knocking in Thompson and sophomore designated hitter Chase McDonald. Thompson and McDonald both reached base on singles.

Joyner (2-0) gave up three hits and no walks, facing only 24 batters through seven innings of work.

A pair of righthanded freshmen came on to protect the triumph for Joyner. Tanner Merrit bottled up WCU in the 8th and Drew Reynolds locked down the outcome in the 9th, picking up his third save.

Junior lefty Morgan McKinney (1-1) gave up all three of ECU's runs before retiring after six innings and got credit for the loss.

Purdue turned four double plays, including rally-squelching ones in the 8th and 9th innings, to hand East Carolina its first loss of the season.

The Boilermakers pulled out the 6-4 win despite scoring only three earned runs and being out-hit by the Pirates 10 hits to 9. ECU committed three errors, a pair by sophomore shortstop Jack Reinheimer and one by losing pitcher Kevin Brandt (1-1), the team's senior left-handed mound ace.

Starter Joe Haase (1-0), a senior righthander, pitched 5 1/3 innings and picked up the win for Purdue.

A highlight for ECU was a two-run, first-inning homer by Thompson, his second round-tripper of the season.

In Saturday's other contests, Maryland shut out Western Carolina in the opener 3-0 and pounded Purdue in the nightcap 11-1 in a game that was concluded after eight innings.

The East Carolina-Purdue and Maryland-WCU contests were originally slated for Friday but stormy weather prompted officials to add the games to Saturday's schedule instead.

The LeClair Classic will climax today with matchups pitting the Catamounts against the Boilermakers at 10 a.m. and ECU against the Terrapins at 2 p.m.

PAGE UPDATED 02/26/12 11:31 AM.

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