Marshall University Athletics
No. 18 East Carolina Tops Herd, 8-2
3/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
No. 18 East Carolina Tops Herd, 8-2
3/16/2004
- Box Score
GREENVILLE, N.C. - A seven run second inning by the 18th-ranked East Carolina Pirates was all they needed to defeat Marshall, 8-2, Tuesday at Harrington Field.
Both starting pitchers started off strong, pitching a scoreless inning and a half, but in the bottom of the second the Pirate offense pounded Herd starter Steve Ziroli (LaGrange, IL). The Pirates started off the inning with four straight hits, including a two-run home run by Pirate Mark Minicozzi. Marshall did not record an out until the sixth batter of the inning. ECU scored a total of seven runs in the inning on six hits and two Marshall errors.
Marshall threatened in the top of the third. With two outs, Monaco notched a single to center field and went on to steal second. Marshall Murray (Walnut Creek, CA) reached base on an error to move Monaco to third, but a pop out by Adam Frederick (Franklin, PA) ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, ECU added on another run to extend their lead to 8-0. Minicozzi was hit by a Ziroli pitch to lead off the inning. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored when Billy Richardson hit into a fielder?s choice. ECU starting pitcher Carter Harrell cruised through the first six innings, allowing only four MU hits.
In the top of the seventh, ECU brought out Matt Bishop to replace Harrell. Marshall made a comeback attempt on Bishop. Corie O?Bryan (Frederick, MD) and Nick Wolle (Coatesville, PA) notched singles to lead off the inning, but Bishop managed to get the next two batters out. That brought up Mike Koitsopoulos (Markham, Ont.), who notched a single to load the bases and bring up Monaco. Monaco, looking for his third hit of the day, grounded out to the shortstop to end the inning.
The Herd finally scored in the top of the eighth. Frederick led the inning off with a double, his third hit of the day. He advanced to third on a single by Francois Larmore (Magnolia, NJ). A single by Corie O?Bryan brought in Frederick to make the score 8-1. ECU was able to get the final two batters out to end the inning and minimize the damage.
Marshall made another run in the ninth. Joe Glevenyak (West Palm Beach, FL) walked to lead off and Koitsopoulos followed that up with another single. Both advanced on a wild pitch, and Glevenyak scored when Monaco hit into a fielder?s choice to make it 8-2. After a strike out by Murray, Adam Frederick reached base on a wild pitch and Larmore was walked to load the bases and bring up O?Bryan. O?Bryan made a strong effort, but grounded out to third to end the game to give ECU an 8-2 win.
The loss drops Marshall to 8-10 and improves ECU to 17-3. Marshall out-hit ECU, 11-9, but was unable to capitalize, leaving 12 on base.
MU starter Steve Ziroli went 4 2/3 innings, giving up eight runs on eight hits. He took the loss, dropping his record to 0-1. Scott Henning (Wilmington, DE) pitched 2 1/3 hitless innings. Chris Meadows (Huntington, WV) pitched the bottom of the eighth, allowing one hit.
The Herd will head back to Huntington to face the Cleveland State Vikings in a three-game series this weekend. The action starts on Friday at 3 p.m. when the Herd will take on the Vikings at University Heights. Admission to all home games is free.
