Cotton crafts 4th win to seal sweep

From electronic and staff reports
©2012 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.

Junior righthander Jharel Cotton parceled out seven hits and one earned run over seven innings and got a burst of offensive support before heading to the showers to earn his fourth victory and help East Carolina claim a 7-4 win over Penn State on Sunday at Clark-Leclair Stadium.

Facing a 4-2 deficit going into the bottom of the seventh, the Pirates used a single, six walks and a pair of wild pitches to manufacture four runs and take what turned out to be a decisive 6-4 lead. The unconventional scores served to more than offset three unearned runs gifted to the Nittany Lions in East Carolina's error-prone fourth inning.

Sophomore righthander Austin Chrismon took over for Cotton (4-0) in the eighth and retired the side to set the stage for designated hitter-turned-pitcher Drew Reynolds to finish the job. A sophomore lefthander, Reynolds closed out the game with a strikeout and a pair of groundouts to pick up his sixth save of the season.

Senior third baseman Corey Thompson and senior second baseman Tim Younger each had a pair of hits and an RBI for the Pirates.

Junior righthander Steven Hill started for Penn State and lasted six innings, giving up nine hits and a pair of runs before giving way to junior righthander Cody Lewis in the seventh. Lewis (1-4) began the series of walks and wild pitches that led to East Carolina's game-winning rally and got credit for the loss.

With the triumph, the Pirates completed a sweep of Penn State. East Carolina beat the Nittany Lions 5-4 on Friday on junior outfielder Jay Cannon's walk-off blast in the bottom of the ninth. Dramatic home runs by Thompson and junior first baseman John Wooten helped the Pirates win a 6-5, 10-inning thriller over Penn State on Saturday.

East Carolina hosts North Carolina State on Tuesday (6 p.m.) and travels to High Point for a Wednesday matchup (6 p.m.) before opening its Conference USA season with a three-game series this weekend at Central Florida.

PAGE UPDATED 03/19/12 03:24 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.