Relievers shine in
12-inning draw
From electronic and staff reports
©2012 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
East Carolina rallied from a 4-1 deficit to
force extra innings and both teams relied on stellar bullpen performances to
stay alive as the Pirates and Conference USA foe Houston battled to a
marathon 4-4 tie on Saturday at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
After East Carolina took advantage of three
hits and a pair of Cougar errors to push three runs across the plate in the
bottom of the seventh, neither team scored again. The game was called and
declared a tie after 12 innings in keeping with the league's travel curfew
policies for visiting teams.
After a harmless single by ECU sophomore
shortstop Jack Reinheimer in the 8th, the Pirates were neutralized the rest
of the way. Senior righthander Mo Wiley, who took over for Houston starter
Austin Pruitt to start the ninth, pitched four innings of perfect ball.
East Carolina righthander Tanner Merritt put
on an impressive relief stint of his own. Merrit pitched the final 6 1/3
innings, parceling out five hits and no walks while not allowing a run.
ECU starter Jharel Cotton, a junior
righthander, lasted five innings, giving up five hits and one run. Junior
righthander Andy Smithmyer relieved Cotton in the 6th and was roughed up for
three runs on three hits and an error before giving way to Merritt after
retiring two batters. Only one of the runs charged against Smithmyer was
earned.
Tim Younger led the Pirates at the plate with
three hits, including a double that was his team's only extra-base hit. The
senior second baseman also scored a pair of runs.
Reinheimer, junior first baseman John Wooten
and junior outfielder Philip Clark each contributed two hits for East
Carolina.
Cougars junior outfielder Jacob Lueneburg put
on the day's best offensive performance, going 4-for-6 with a run scored and
an RBI. Senior pinch hitter/catcher John Cannon had three hits and junior
designated hitter Corey Grayson added two hits, including a double.
The Pirates (22-8-1, 6-2-1 C-USA) won the
first two games in the series,
trouncing Houston on Thursday and
hammering the Cougars (11-18-1,
1-7-1) on Friday in a game shortened by C-USA's mercy rule.
East Carolina will bus to Elon for a game on
Tuesday and return home for a matchup with Old Dominion on Wednesday. Both
games are scheduled for 6 p.m.
PAGE UPDATED
04/08/12 08:08 AM.
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