Gaffes sink ECU in regular
season finale
From electronic and staff reports
©2012 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Virginia Commonwealth seized on a spate of
East Carolina snafus in the first inning to score five unearned runs and
grab firm control of the momentum en route to an 11-2 victory Saturday
afternoon in the finale of the Terry Sisisky Classic at The Diamond in
Richmond, VA.
The host Rams (32-23) chased ECU starter
Jharel Cotton and pushed six runs across the plate by the time the initial
frame was over. A junior righthander, Cotton (8-1) absorbed his first loss
of the season after hitting two batsmen, issuing three walks and
surrendering a single in 2/3 of an inning. Sophomore shortstop Jack
Reinheimer contributed to the implosion with a throwing error that
inevitably extended the inning.
Despite outhitting VCU 9-6, the Pirates
(34-20-1) stayed off-kilter for much of the contest and committed four
errors. The Rams played error-free ball.
The game's offensive highlight was a
4th-inning, two-run homer to left by VCU outfielder Taylor Buran.
Sophomore first baseman Chase McDonald and
junior outfielder Bryan Bass had two hits apiece for the Pirates.
Rams reliever Matt Lees (4-2) gave up a run on
four hits and pocketed the win. The freshman lefthander took over for
freshman southpaw Heath Dwyer, who shut out ECU on two hits over the first
four innings.
Combined with the Pirates'
14-8 win over Virginia Military Institute
Friday afternoon and the Keydets' 7-6 upset victory over VCU in Friday's
nightcap, the Rams' defeat of ECU ensured that the Terry Sisisky Classic
would end with each of the three participating teams gaining one triumph.
The outcome also punctuated a VCU sweep of the
Pirates this season. The Rams
battered ECU 18-11 on Mar. 13 in
Greenville.
East Carolina (34-20-1) now turns its focus to
next week's Conference USA Championship Tournament at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Mississippi.
The tourney's pod format pits the 6th-seeded Pirates against No. 3 seed
Tulane (37-18) on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ECU will then face No. 2 seed Central
Florida on Friday at 4 p.m. and 7th-seeded UAB on Saturday at 4 p.m.
The opposite pod features top-seed Rice, No. 4
seed Southern Miss, 5th seed Memphis and No. 8 seed 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
05/20/12 04:00 AM.
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