Ninth inning snafu sinks Pirates

From electronic and staff reports
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Old Dominion's Chris Baker raced home from second base on a misplayed ninth inning popup to score the decisive run in a 3-2 upset victory over East Carolina Wednesday night at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

Baker, a senior first baseman, led off the inning with an infield single and moved to second on a passed ball. Two outs later, ECU senior third baseman Corey Thompson committed the fateful error on junior designated hitter Shawn Sizemore's infield flyer, allowing Baker to reach home plate.

The Pirates (23-9-1) had an opportunity to tie or win in the bottom half of the inning, putting runners on second and third with two outs. But Monarchs closer Dean Ali, a sophomore righthander, retired freshman pinch hitter Nick Thompson on a fly to right field to end the threat and pick up the save.

Each team employed four pitchers in the game. Junior righthander Brandon Smith (5-1) got credit for the win after pitching hitless ball from the sixth through the eighth innings, walking one and hitting a pair of batters but keeping East Carolina off the scoreboard.

Junior lefthander Jake Harris continued his comeback from Tommy John surgery, taking over for ECU starter Deshorn Lake in the third and hurling 4 1/3 innings of no-hit ball. Harris walked only one during the impressive stint.

Junior righthander Andy Smithmyer (2-2) relieved Harris in the seventh and took the loss. Smithmyer pitched two innings and gave up one hit, one walk and the ninth inning unearned run that spelled defeat for the Pirates.

Baker and freshman outfielder Josh Eldridge had two hits apiece for the Monarchs (12-21). The game's offensive highlight came when ODU senior shortstop Josh Wright belted a two-run homer down the left field line in the third inning.

Senior catcher Zach Wright and sophomore shortstop Jack Reinheimer each banged out two of East Carolina's six hits. One of Reinheimer's hits was a triple that drove in two runs in the fourth, knotting the score at 2-2.

East Carolina is off Thursday and begins a weekend road series against Conference USA foe Memphis on Friday (7:30 p.m.)

PAGE UPDATED 04/12/12 06:31 AM.

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