ECU miscues costly in tourney opener

From electronic and staff reports
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East Carolina outhit Tulane and lefthander Kevin Brandt hurled his fourth complete game of the season, but a pair of infield errors allowed No. 3 seed Green Wave to grab a pair of gift-wrapped runs that proved decisive in a 4-3 Wednesday night victory over the 6th-seeded Pirates.

Tulane's win concluded first-day action in the Conference USA Championship tournament at Trustmark Park in Pearl, MS. No. 5 seed Memphis pounded 4th-seed Southern Miss 14-3 in the day's opener and top seed Rice mounted a 7-5 comeback triumph over 8th-seed Houston in the second game.

Brandt (7-6) parceled out eight singles, walked none and surrendered only two earned runs in the type of solid pitching performance that has typified his senior campaign. But, as has been the case on multiple occasions this season, Brandt's mound exploits were negated by shortcomings in other aspects of the team's game.

Trailing 2-1 with two outs in the top of the 6th, East Carolina's fortunes seemed to take a positive turn when sophomore designated hitter Chase McDonald doubled and junior outfielder Jay Cannon singled to drive in McDonald, knotting the score.

But with two outs in the bottom of the frame, the Green Wave (38-18) got that run back and an extra one courtesy of back-to-back ECU snafus. With men on first and third, sophomore shortstop Jack Reinheimer misplayed a grounder that allowed one runner to score and the other to advance to third. On the following play, senior third baseman Corey Thompson fielded a grounder but uncorked a bad throw to first, sending another run across the plate.

Tulane's resulting 4-2 lead came under threat in the 9th as the Pirates produced a run when Reinheimer singled, moved to second on a balk and came home on a two-out single by Thompson. But Wave closer D.J. Ponder got junior first baseman John Wooten on a popup in foul territory to end the game.

Junior righthander Alex Byo (9-4) gave up three runs on 11 hits and a walk over eight innings to pick up the win. 

The tournament's pod format gives the Pirates (34-21-1) an off day on Thursday. East Carolina finishes its pod pairings with games against No. 2 seed Central Florida on Friday (4 p.m.) and 7th-seed UAB on Saturday (4 p.m.)

The opposite pod features Rice, Southern Miss, Memphis and Houston. The pod winners will meet for the championship and the league's automatic NCAA Tournament bid on Sunday at 2 p.m. in a game to be televised by the CBS Sports Network.

PAGE UPDATED 05/24/12 06:40 AM.

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