Pirates Crush Delaware, 14-3, for Fourth Straight Win
March 02, 2003 | Baseball
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- East Carolina completed a three-game sweep of Delaware with a 14-3 romp in college baseball action Sunday afternoon at Harrington Field.
The win was the Pirates' (8-3) fourth straight and fifth in their last six games.
Delaware falls to 0-6.
Mark Minicozzi went 3-for-5 with a home run and five RBI and Darryl Lawhorn had three hits and drove in two runs for East Carolina. The Pirates pounded out 14 hits today after getting a season-high 15 in Saturday's 12-0 win.
ECU took charge of the game with a five-run third inning and put it away with a six-run fifth.
"Anytime you win three games against a quality team like that, you feel good about it," ECU head coach Randy Mazey said. "When you're in a [hitting] slump, you just work your way out of it. We've been taking early batting practice the last couple of days to get some extra work in and it's starting to show."
The Blue Hens, who have advanced to NCAA postseason play in four of the last five seasons, drew first blood on an RBI single by Nick DeCarlo in the second inning.
The lead was short-lived, however, as ECU took advantage of Delaware starter Mark Michael's control problems to take a 5-1 lead in the third. The Pirates sent 11 men to the plate and pounded out four hits, including RBI singles from Minicozzi and Jake Smith. Michael (0-1) did not help his cause by hitting two batters--including one with the bases loaded--and walking two in the inning.
Delaware cut it to 5-2 by scoring an unearned run in the top of the fifth. The Blue Hens' Daryl Holcomb reached on a two-out single, took second when Kris Dufner's grounder was thrown errantly by ECU shortstop Luke Cherry, and then scored on an infield single by Steve Van Note.
The Pirates blew the game open in the bottom of the frame, tallying six runs on five hits and aided by two Blue Hen errors. Jamie Paige drove home two runs with a double, Lawhorn rapped an RBI double, and Jason Tourangeau brought home another run with a groundout fielder's choice. The Pirates also plated additional runs via a fielder's interference call and on a throwing error by Blue Hen shortstop Todd Davison.
Minicozzi capped the Pirate scoring in the seventh with a three-run shot to left center, his second home run of the season.
"He's playing great," Mazey said of Minicozzi, a redshirt freshman third baseman. "If he continues to get better, he could be a special player here."
Delaware tacked on its final run in the ninth inning on an RBI groundout by Davison.
ECU left-hander Ashley Capps (2-0), making his first start of the season, went five innings and scattered six hits for the win.
The Pirates continue their home stand on Tuesday with a 3 p.m. game against William & Mary.
