High Point deals loss to Pirates

From electronic and staff reports
©2013 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.

High Point made the most of its first turn at bat Wednesday evening, leveraging a hit batsman, a walk and two doubles into what turned out to be three decisive runs in an eventual 4-2 victory over East Carolina at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

Pitchers Ryan Retz and John Maloney made sure the Panthers stayed in front from that point on, combining for six strikeouts while allowing only six hits and a walk to consign the Pirates to their second straight loss and their fifth in seven games.

ECU starter Nick Durazo surrendered four hits, walked three and dinged a pair of batters over 5 1/3 innings, with the primary damage coming in that shaky first inning.

After hitting High Point senior shortstop and leadoff hitter Willie Medina, Durazo seemed to settle down, striking out the next two batters. But Medina stole second, setting the stage for an RBI double by sophomore first baseman Spencer Angelis.

Durazo then issued a base on balls to Retz, the opposing pitcher, who soon crossed the plate behind Angelis on freshman outfielder Sly Edwards' double.

The Panthers chased Durazo and increased their lead to 4-0 in the sixth when Angelis hit his second double, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on pinch-hitter Scott Glover's sacrifice fly.

ECU's sole offensive highlight came in the seventh when junior outfielder Ben Fultz belted a two-run homer on the heels of senior third baseman Jay Cannon reaching base on a single.

Retz, a senior righthander, improved to 2-1 with the victory. Maloney, a junior righty, closed out the win and picked up the save with 1 1/3 perfect innings.

Durazo, a freshman lefthander, fell to 0-2 with the loss.

Senior righthander Andy Smithmyers logged 3 1/3 innings for the Pirates, allowing no runs on two hits, a walk and a hit batsman.

Designated hitter Drew Reynolds, a junior righthander, took the mound to retire High Point's final batter of the evening on a strikeout.

ECU will regroup and head to Houston to open the Conference USA season this weekend. The Pirates will face the Cougars on Friday (7:30 pm), Saturday (7:30 pm) and Sunday (2 p.m.).

PAGE UPDATED 03/21/13 04:17 AM.

Copyright © Bonesville.net. All rights rights reserved. No content on this site may be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any fashion without explicit written permission from the editor. Information from Bonesville staff members, East Carolina University, Conference USA and other sources was used in composing and/or compiling the articles and data on this site. This site is editorially independent and is not affiliated with East Carolina University or Conference USA. View Bonesville.net's privacy policy. For advertising or other information, e-mail editor@bonesville.net.