Diamond Pirates' Season Ends With Loss to Stetson
May 31, 2003 | Baseball
By KEITH PARSONS
AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA (AP) -- Andy Wilson went 3-for-4 with three RBI as Stetson beat East Carolina 9-4 Saturday in an elimination game in the NCAA regional in Atlanta.
The Hatters (41-23) must beat South Carolina (41-20) twice Sunday to advance to the Super Regional. Earlier Saturday, the Gamecocks beat Stetson 7-2.
The Hatters scored seven runs in the first two innings, then cruised from there.
"I think all the players we have are capable of doing the job,'' said John Destefano, who was 3-for-5 with three RBI. "We took advantage of our opportunities when we got people in scoring position.''
Brandon Paritz added three hits, drove in a run and scored twice. Adam Townsend (4-3) relieved starter Cameron Abel with two outs in the fifth and pitched one-hit ball over 3 1-3 innings. He walked one and struck out one.
Roger Lincoln pitched a scoreless ninth for Stetson.
Jason Tourangeau (2-2) didn't get out the second for the Pirates, who beat host Georgia Tech 10-3 in the first elimination game Saturday. In 1 2-3 innings, he gave up five runs on five hits.
"We were asking an awful lot of Jason,'' East Carolina coach Randy Mazey said. "He didn't have his breaking ball in the first two innings, and without his breaking ball for strikes, they're going to put the bat on the ball.
"We just got down too far to come back from.''
Stetson took a 1-0 lead in the first on a run-scoring double by Wilson, then added six in the second.
Ben Hall was hit by a pitch and Mike D'Aoust followed with a hit-and-run single to left. A fielder's choice moved Hall to third, and he came home on a single by Rusty Beale. John Destefano singled to score Ian Church to finish Tourangeau, and reliever Neal Sears gave up a run-scoring single to Paritz.
An out later, Wilson drove in Destefano and Paritz with a double down the left-field line for a 7-1 lead.
The Pirates got within 7-2, then added two more in the fifth. With one out, Jamie Paige singled and then moved to third on a double by Ryan Jones. Abel got Ryan Norwood on a groundout, then left in favor of Townsend.
But Darryl Lawhorn singled to right -- the only hit off Townsend -- to bring home Paige and Jones to cut the lead to 7-4.
Destefano hit a solo homer in the seventh, then added a run-scoring single in the ninth.
