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COLLEGE BASEBALL
2012 Game No. 17
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Pirates dodge defeat, capture
thriller
From staff and electronic reports
View the Mobile Alpha version of this report.
East Carolina helped itself stay alive with a pair
of dramatic home runs in the bottom of the ninth inning and got some help
from Penn State in the 10th inning to pull off a remarkable rally and defeat
the Nittany Lions 6-5 on Saturday at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
The Pirates (13-4) trailed 5-1 and were down to
their last out when senior third baseman Corey Thompson's three-run,
ninth-inning homer to right center slashed the deficit to one. Sophomore
pinchhitter Jonathan Holt, who walked, and junior leftfielder Bryan Bass,
who reached on a single, were on base when Thompson delivered his clutch
roundtripper.
Junior first baseman John Wooten followed with a
full-count home run to left field to force extra innings.
After Penn State (3-13) could mount only a single
by senior first baseman Jordan Steranka in the top of the 10th, senior
catcher Zach Wright walked to start off East Carolina's half of the inning.
Wright moved to second on junior rightfielder Jay Cannon's groundout.
When junior centerfielder Philip Clark followed
with a high-bouncing infield single, Wright appeared to be destined for a
stop on third base. But junior second baseman Luis Montesinos committed a
throwing error in his attempt to put out Clark at first, allowing Wright to
scoot home and complete the comeback victory.
J.C. Coban played a part in all five of the Nittany
Lions' runs. The freshman catcher was 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs and scored a pair
of runs himself.
Coban had a run-scoring double and eventually came
in to score in the third to put Penn State ahead 2-0. His two-run homer to
left center in the seventh gave the Lions a 4-1 advantage, and his
run-scoring triple to right center in the ninth appeared to provide his team
some insurance. But that was before the heroics began to unfold for East
Carolina in the bottom of the ninth.
Junior lefthander Tyler Joyner started for the
Pirates, striking out seven and giving up seven hits and four runs over
eight innings. Junior righthander Andy Smithmyer came in to start the ninth,
retiring two batters but also surrendering a walk and Coban's RBI triple.
Freshman righthander Dario Santangelo took over
after Coban's three-bagger, issuing a walk before retiring the final batter
of the inning.
After the Pirates knotted the game in the bottom of
the inning, Santangelo returned to the mound and got Penn State's
10th-inning leadoff hitter on a pop up before giving way to sophomore
righhander Tanner Merritt.
Merritt (2-1) got credit for the victory despite
facing only three batters. After giving up a single to the first batter he
faced, Merritt fanned the next two to close the inning and set the stage for
the decisive theatrics in the bottom of the frame.
Junior righthander Dave Walkling (0-1) pitched the
fateful 10th inning for Penn State and took the loss. Junior righthander
John Walter started and had 7 2/3 solid innings, giving up five hits and one
run.
Sophomore southpaw Greg Welsh and freshman
lefthander Casey Kulina each had short, ineffective relief stints between
Walter and Walkling, opening the door for the Pirates to send the game into
extra innings.
East Carolina scored a run on Walter in the fourth
when Cannon singled to drive in sophomore designated hitter Drew Reynolds,
who had reached on a double.
The Pirates can finish off a sweep in the
three-game series when the teams meet today at 1 p.m. Cannon's
walk-off blast in the bottom of
the ninth lifted East Carolina to a 5-4 triumph over the Nittany Lions in
Friday's opener.
BOX SCORE #17
EAST CAROLINA PIRATES 6, PENN
STATE NITTANY LIONS 5 (10)
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ECU SID GAME STORY
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PSU SID GAME STORY
Date: Saturday, March 17, 2012
Venue: Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, NC
Attendance: 3,092
Records: ECU 13-4; PSU 3-13.
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