Pirates Hang On For One-Run Victory
April 13, 2003 | Baseball
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Sophomore pitcher Greg Bunn allowed just one hit and struck out eight batters in the final 3.1 innings to preserve a 3-2 victory for East Carolina over Memphis here Sunday afternoon.
Despite collecting just five hits, ECU (23-12-1, 10-5 CUSA) won its fifth consecutive Conference USA series of the season, claiming each series two games to one.
"These guys always find a way to win," said Pirate head coach Randy Mazey. "We're going to have to play better in the second half of the Conference USA season."
Trailing 2-1 in fifth, the Pirates plated two runs to surge ahead. John Poppert singled to leadoff the frame and moved over to second on an errant picked off throw by the Memphis catcher. Two batters later, Poppert scored from second on an infield single by Ben Sanderson that trickled off the glove of Tiger shortstop Brent Dlugach. Sanderson later scored from first on a two-out RBI-double into the right-center field gap by Kevin O'Sullivan.
Ryan Norwood put the Pirates on the scoreboard with a solo home run in the fourth, his ninth of the season.
Memphis (12-23, 4-11 CUSA) put together a two-out rally in the third to score the first two runs of the game. Jordan Hart and Chad House reached on consecutive singles and Michael Lewis drew a walk to load the bases. Ryan Martin followed with a two-run single to right field.
The Tigers loaded the bases and threatened to take the lead in the seventh, but sophomore reliever Greg Bunn struck out the side to end the threat. Memphis put the tying run in scoring position in each of the final three innings, but Bunn fanned the final batter of each frame and earned his sixth save of the season.
Senior Will Brinson (3-1) yielded two runs on five hits with five strikeouts in 5.2 innings pitched to earn his third win of the season. Jarrett Grube (1-4) suffered the loss for Memphis.
The Pirates return to action Tuesday, April 15 against Campbell. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start in Buies Creek, N.C.
