East Carolina finishes off Seawolves

From electronic and staff reports
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East Carolina built an early lead and got six innings of solid mound work from junior righthander Jharel Cotton before turning to its bullpen to close out a 4-3 victory and a series sweep of Stony Brook on Sunday at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

The Pirates went ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the first when senior second baseman Tim Younger lashed a one-out single to left field, driving in junior rightfielder Jay Cannon and senior catcher Zach Wright. Cannon reached on an error, Wright singled up the middle and both advanced on a sacrifice bunt by junior designated hitter Chris Gosik to set the stage for Younger's clinch hit.

Cannon factored into the scoring again in the third, doubling to knock in senior third baseman Corey Thompson, who had singled to left center to open the frame. Cannon dashed home one play later on a fielding error by the Seawolves first baseman.

On a day when miscues by both teams were plentiful, East Carolina errors played a part in each of Stony Brook's runs. The Seawolves scored unearned runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth to whittle the deficit to one, 4-3.

Cotton (2-0) kept the Seawolves off balance for six innings and got credit for the win, striking out four and walking only one. After hurling five innings of shutout ball, he was nicked for an unearned run in the sixth when junior centerfielder Travis Jankowski belted a two-bagger to left field, moved to third on a throwing error by Thompson and scored on an infield groundout.

Freshman righthander Jeff Hoffman relieved Cotton to start the seventh, retiring one batter, allowing a single by junior second baseman Max Tissenbaum and walking a batter before giving way to Andy Smithmyer, a junior righthander. A fielding error by Smithmyer on the first batter he faced permitted Tissenbaum to score, which went into the book as an unearned run against Hoffman.

Smithmyer finished the seventh but was credited with an unearned run of his own after walking Seawolves senior catcher Pat Cantwell to open the eighth inning. Sophomore righthander Tanner Merritt took over the mound duties and closed out the inning but not before Cantwell eventually scored on a fielding error by sophomore shortstop Jack Reinheimer.

Merrit gave up a single to sophomore first baseman Kevin Courtney in the ninth but retired the side with Courtney still stranded on first to earn the save, his second of the season.

Stony Brook starter Evan Stecko-Haley (1-1) went 4 1/3 innings and took the loss. The senior righthander gave up all four of East Carolina's runs, two of which were earned.

The win was the Pirates' third squeaker over the Seawolves in three days. East Carolina (8-2) nipped Stony Brook 1-0 on Friday and 2-1 on Saturday. The Seawolves (4-3) arrived in Greenville unbeaten and with a nation-leading, 15-game road winning streak.

Next up for the Pirates is a road trip to Alabama. East Carolina will pay a visit to Troy for an 8 p.m. matchup on Wednesday before busing over to Tuscaloosa for next weekend's DRASH Alabama Baseball Classic involving the Crimson Tide, Louisville and Oral Roberts.

PAGE UPDATED 03/06/12 02:39 AM.

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