Memphis prevails in cliffhanger

From electronic and staff reports
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After Memphis overcame a three-run deficit in the final three innings, East Carolina mounted a comeback attempt of its own in its final at bat before coming up short in a 6-5 Conference USA loss Friday night at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

Shutout out for six innings, the Tigers pushed across three runs in the seventh, one in the eighth and two in the ninth to take a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth.

Memphis then held on as the Pirates pulled within one on Ben Fultz's two-out, two-run single before Jay Cannon's flyout ended the contest with two runners on base.

ECU's final turn at the plate began with little sign of an uprising as Bryan Bass flied out and Jack Reinheimer went down on a groundout.

But Drew Reynolds walked, Zach Houchins reached on a fielding error and Chase McDonald singled to keep the Pirates alive, loading the bases in the process.

Fultz's hit brought in Reynolds and Houchins and advanced the potential tying and winning runs to first and third, respectively.

Tiger rightfielder Ford Wilson then snared Cannon's fly to short-circuit the rally.

The key blow that shifted the momentum of the game was Memphis outfielder Bryce Beeler's two-out, three-run home to left in the seventh that wiped out ECU's 3-0 advantage.

The outcome dropped the Pirates to 21-21 overall, 6-7 in the conference, and ended their four-game winning streak.

The Tigers improved to 26-17, 9-7 in the league.

The teams face off again on Saturday at 2 p.m. and wind up the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.

PAGE UPDATED 04/27/13 11:15 AM.

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