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COLLEGE BASEBALL
2012 Game No. 48
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ECU finishes off Herd as
Wright delivers
From staff and electronic reports
View the Mobile Alpha version of this report.
Four East Carolina hurlers combined for a
three-hitter and their battery mate made their pitching efforts worthwhile
with a clutch three-run double that lifted the Pirates to a 6-3 Conference
USA victory over Marshall Sunday afternoon at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
Senior catcher Zach Wright's base-clearing
two-bagger down the left field line in the bottom of the 7th drove in Drew
Reynolds, Corey Thompson and John Wooten to transform a 3-3 standoff into a
6-3 lead.
Sophomore designated hitter Reynolds had reached on
a single, senior third baseman Thompson had followed with a double and
junior outfielder/first baseman Wooten was intentionally walked to set the
stage for Wright's key blow.
A pair of stellar, short-haul relief pitching
performances snuffed out any thoughts the Herd had of making a comeback.
Junior lefthander Jake Harris retired the side in order in the 8th. Then
Reynolds took over the mound duties in the 9th and fanned three to seal the
outcome.
The Pirates took a 2-0 lead on single runs in the
3rd and 4th before Marshall finally got to ECU starter Jharel Cotton in the
5th. A junior righthander, Cotton had a no-hitter going for 4 2/3 innings
until surrendering a triple to Marshall third baseman Gray Stafford. Cotton
walked the next two batters to load the bases and then hit a batter to force
in a run. Jeff Hoffman came on in relief and got the final out on a
groundout.
Hoffman retired the Herd in order in the 6th and
the Pirates built his working margin to 3-1 by producing a run in the bottom
of the 6th on two singles and a walk.
Hoffman lost that cushion in the 7th, giving up two
runs — one earned — on two hits and a throwing error. But the freshman
righthander (2-1) got credit for the victory thanks to Wright's hitting
prowess in the bottom of the 7th.
Senior lefthander Mike Mason started for Marshall
and lasted 5 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and a pair of
walks.
Three relief pitchers finished the game for the
Herd with sophomore righthander Ryan Hopkins taking the loss despite logging
only 1/3 of an inning. Hopkins (1-3) happened to be serving up the pitches
when Wright and the Pirates put together their game-winning offensive
outburst.
ECU outhit Marshall 14-3 with Reynolds going
4-for-5 and Wright going 3-for-4. No batter hit safely more than once for
the Herd.
Combined with
their 8-2 thumping of Marshall on Friday and an
extra-inning comeback victory over the Herd on Saturday, the win
cemented East Carolina's second league sweep of the season. ECU took three
from UAB in the second week of the league campaign.
The Pirates step out of the league for home games
with Elon on Tuesday (6 p.m.) and North Carolina on Wednesday (6 p.m.) ECU
then hits the road to wrap up the C-USA regular season with a three-game set
at Southern Miss starting Friday (7 p.m.)
BOX SCORE #48
East Carolina 6, Marshall 3
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ECU SID GAME STORY
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MU SID GAME STORY
Date: Sunday, May 6, 2012
Venue: Clark-LeClair Stadium, Greenville, NC
Attendance: 2,377
Records: ECU 31-16-1, 13-7-1 Conference USA;
MU 15-31, 3-15.
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