Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
East Carolina
East Carolina Sweeps Doubleheader From Marshall at Appalachian Power Park
4/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 13, 2007
Game One Box Score
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Game Two Box Score
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. - East Carolina won both games of Friday's Conference USA baseball doubleheader over Marshall by scores of 7-4 and 13-3 at Appalachian Power Park. The Pirates move to 24-12, 6-5 on the season while Marshall dropped its 14th straight game to fall to 14-19, 0-8.
Game One East Carolina scored four runs in the game's last three innings to claim a come-from-behind 7-4 victory over Marshall in game of the doubleheader.
Marshall opened the scoring in the bottom of the second when Nate Lape (Huntington, N.Y.) hit his second homer of the year - in his second straight at bat - with an inside the park home run that ricocheted off the right centerfield wall. Lape's two-run homer came on the heels of his ninth-inning, three-run blast in a loss at Cincinnati on Monday.
The Pirates responded in their next at bat with three runs to take a 3-2 lead. A Corey Kemp single scored Harrison Eldridge, who opened the inning with a double to center field. Ryan Tousley hit his eighth home run, a two-run shot, in the next at bat.
After scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth, Marshall regained the lead with two runs in the sixth. With two outs and nobody on base, Brandon Casamassima (Colleyville, Texas) drove a T.J. Hose offering over the left field wall for his sixth home run of the season. Marshall followed with three straight singles, the last of which scored Jeff Rowley (Buffalo, N.Y.) on a Josh Valle (Brentwood, N.Y.) RBI single up the middle fir a 4-3 MU advantage.
East Carolina again answered a Marshall scoring inning with a run to knot the game at 4-4. Dale Mollenhauer's leadoff triple was rewarded with a bases loaded sac fly by Ryan Wood. Jeremy Slone (Paintsville, Ky.) was pulled after allowing the Mollenhauer triple and subsequent error on a pop up from the next batter, Kemp. Andrew Blain (Huntington, W.Va.) came in for the lefty-lefty matchup with Tousley and struck out the C-USA RBI leader.
Slone pitched 6.0 innings with eight hits and three earned runs along with five strikeouts.
The Pirates took a 5-4 lead in the top of the eighth on a pinch-hit solo home run by Kyle Roller on the first pitch he saw from reliever Nick Wolle (Coatesville, Pa.). ECU also added two runs in the top of the ninth to give the Pirates a 7-4 lead.
Marshall managed to send only seven batters to the plate in the final two innings as Jason Neitz and C-USA saves leader Shane Mathews closed out the Herd. Mathews registered save No. 10 on the season. Nietz picked up the win to move to 4-1 on the year.
Lape and Rowley both finished 2-for-4, with Lape adding a pair of RBI and a run scored. Valle also went 2-for-4 with one RBI. Wolle took the loss to fall to 1-2.
Tousley and Jake Dean posted two RBI apiece. Hose pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up eight hits and four earned runs.
Game Two The East Carolina offense got things rolling quickly in game two, jumping out to a 9-0 lead after three innings on the way to a 13-3 win and the doubleheader sweep.
After a pair of runs in the second, the Pirates exploded for seven runs in the third highlighted by a Stephen Batts two-out grand slam. Kemp earlier doubled down the right field line with the bases loaded to score all three runners, aided by an error on the relay throw from the outfield.
The Herd committed two errors in the third inning that led to only one earned run on starter Brian Chrisman (Pittsburgh, Pa.) out of ECU's seven plated in the frame. Chrisman was relieved by Alan Gentry (Hot Springs, Ark.) to start the fourth inning, finishing with 3.0 innings, six hits and nine runs (three earned) with three strikeouts.
Marshall cut its deficit to six runs after plating three runners in the bottom of the fifth. A Valle leadoff single was followed by a Nick Damas (Willow Springs, Ill.) walk. Catcher Tommy Johnson (Gaithersburg, Md.) came off the bench and promptly drove home both runners with a double to right centerfield. Johnson would score in the next at bat when a Blake Sanders (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) grounder to first base got by Batts for an error and a 9-3 ECU lead.
As has been the case several times during Marshall's losing streak, a Herd flurry of runs was answered in the opponent's next at bat. ECU plated three runs in the top of the sixth on three hits to seize a 12-3 lead.
The final run of the game came on ECU's second pitch-hit home run of the doubleheader. Mark Letchworth hit a solo shot off of Herd reliever Sean Rigney (Lancaster, Pa.) to give ECU the final 13-3 margin.
Kemp and Batts both went 2-for-5 in the game with three and four RBI, respectively, for the Pirates. In all, four Pirates enjoyed a multiple-hit game in game two.
Marshall managed seven hits by seven different hitters. Chapman and Brendan Murphy (Chattanooga, Tenn.) each recorded hits in both games of the doubleheader to extend their hitting streaks to six and seven games, respectively.
The Herd and Pirates will conclude the three-game series on Saturday at 7 p.m.
