No Late-Inning Miracles for Pirates on Saturday
March 16, 2003 | Baseball
HOUSTON -- Houston jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and held off numerous East Carolina threats as the Cougars beat the Pirates, 2-1, in Conference USA baseball on Saturday at Cougar Field.
A day after being shut out, the Cougars scored only two runs off eight hits. However, pitchers Danny Zell and Ryan Wagner made certain that was enough offense for the Cougars, who evened the series at 1-1. Zell scattered seven hits and only one run with three strikeouts in seven innings of work to improve to 5-1 this season.
Meanwhile, Wagner slammed the door on the ECU batters, throwing two innings of one-hit relief with three strikeouts in his team-leading fourth save of the year.
ECU starter Ashley Capps dropped to 3-1 after allowing two runs off five hits in only three innings.
The series has been an offensive struggle for both squads, who have each managed a total of two runs during the first two games.
The series wraps up at noon Sunday at Cougar Field. UH sophomore righthander Garrett Mock (0-2, 3.97) is scheduled to start for the Cougars with ECU's starter to be determined.
The Cougars struck for their first runs of the series with a two-spot in the third inning. Nick Bott led off with a double in the left center gap and came around to score on Gabe Lucas' one-out, RBI single to left field. Hyung Cho then laced a single to right center, allowing Lucas to move all the way to third base.
Thanos Papavasiliou lifted a deep sacrifice fly to right field to cap the Cougar scoring and give UH a 2-0 lead.
The score remained that way until the seventh inning when ECU put its mark on the scoreboard. Jamie Paige laced an RBI-single through the left side of the Cougar infield to cut the UH advantage in half.
UH junior third baseman Hyung Cho went 3-for-4 to raise his team-best batting average to .342, while Papavasiliou went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Bott batted 1-for-2 with a run and double, his first extra-base hit of the season.
ECU's Ryan Norwood went 3-for-4 with a double to lead the Pirates, who rapped out eight hits in the game.
