Pirates wallop Memphis to take series

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

East Carolina belted six extra-base hits, including a pair of home runs, in a 14-7 rout of Conference USA foe Memphis Sunday afternoon at FedExPark.

The Pirates (25-10-1, 8-3-1 C-USA) banged out 17 hits overall and put the game away with multi-run outbursts in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. ECU's 11 runs during the three frames transformed a 2-1 deficit into an 11-2 advantage.

Junior first baseman John Wooten and senior catcher Zach Wright smacked round-trippers for the Pirates and generally abused the Tigers' pitching staff from start to finish. Wooten finished 4-for-5 with five runs batted in, while Wright was 3-for-6 with two RBIs. Each of them also lashed out a double and scored a pair of runs.

East Carolina senior third baseman Corey Thompson had a stellar day at the plate as well, going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI and scoring two runs.

Memphis senior first baseman T.J. Rich hit a two-run homer in the second that gave his team a 2-1 lead that held up until the Pirates' offensive assault in the middle innings.

Starter Jharel Cotton (6-0) lasted six innings for the Pirates and got credit for the victory. The junior righthander fanned six and surrendered five runs on six hits, two walks and a hit batsman.

Sophomore righthander Tanner Merritt picked up his seventh save after giving up a pair of runs, one earned, on four hits, no walks and one hit batsman over the final three innings.

Starter Chase Joiner (2-4) took the loss for the Tigers (16-20, 6-6) after yielding six runs on eight hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings. The senior righthander was chased after serving up back-to-back doubles to Thompson and Wooten and a homer to Wright in the fifth.

East Carolina piled up eight more runs on nine hits and five walks against a parade of five Memphis relief pitchers.

With the win, the Pirates claimed the edge in the weekend series. ECU beat the Tigers 5-2 Friday night and lost by an identical score Saturday afternoon.

The Pirates host UNC-Wilmington on Tuesday (6 p.m.) and William & Mary on Wednesday (6 p.m.) before hitting the road for a crucial league series against Rice next weekend.

PAGE UPDATED 04/16/12 03:48 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.