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Pirates dodge defeat, capture thriller

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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.

PAGE UPDATED 03/18/12 08:53 AM.

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