Minicozzi Leads No. 23 ECU Baseball by Mountaineers, 8-1
March 10, 2004 | Baseball
Harrell struck out four in six innings and allowed one earned run on seven hits. Phillip Powell, Kevin Rhodes and Matt Bishop each pitched one scoreless inning of baseball. Andrew Kline took the loss for Appalachian State. He gave up three runs on five hits through two innings of work.
Jake Smith added two hits for the Pirates. Ryan Merz led Appalachian State going 3-for-3 at the plate as the Mountaineers finished the contest with nine hits. ECU scored three runs in the bottom of the first. Drew Costanzo's RBI single drove in Brett Lindgren, who walked, giving ECU a 1-0 lead. John Poppert's bases loaded walk gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead. ECU's final run in the inning came on Mark Minicozzi's single to center field.
Appalachian State (1-12) cut into its deficit in the top of the third on Joe Norton's bloop single to left field scoring Chris Baker, pulling the Mountaineers within, 3-1. ECU sent 10 men to the plate in the bottom of the fifth. Minicozzi's two-run double started off a four-run fifth inning for the Pirates as ECU led, 5-1. Brian Cavanaugh doubled in Minicozzi and Billy Richardson drove in Cavanaugh for a 7-1 Pirate advantage.
The Pirates added one run in the bottom of the eighth. Jake Smith scored on a three-base error putting ECU ahead, 8-1.
Jamie Paige, Ryan Norwood, Costanzo, Cavanaugh and Richardson each had one hit for the Pirates. Joe Norton went 2-for-4 with one RBI for the Mountaineers.
ECU continues its home-stand this weekend when the Pirates host Charleston Southern. Friday's first-pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday's game will be at 2 p.m., while Sunday's finale is set for 1 p.m. Friday's and Sunday's game can be heard locally on Pirate Radio 1250.
