No. 18 ECU Baseball Downs Marshall, 8-2
March 16, 2004 | Baseball
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Carter Harrell held Marshall (8-10) to four hits through six innings to earn his fourth win while Mark Minicozzi and Darryl Lawhorn combined to go 5-for-8 with five RBI as No. 18 East Carolina remained perfect at home by knocking off the Thundering Herd, 8-2, Tuesday afternoon at Harrington Field. ECU (17-3) scored seven runs in the second inning for the early lead.
Harrell made his fourth start and tossed six scoreless innings holding Marshall to the four hits. He struck out four before giving way to Matt Bishop in the seventh. Bishop gave up his first earned run of the season on six hits in two innings of work. John Emmert and Scott Andrews combined to pitch the final inning for the Pirates. Steve Ziroli took the loss for Marshall on the mound. Ziroli allowed five earned runs on eight hits and struck out three. Scott Henning and Chris Meadows pitched the final 3 1/3 innings for the Thundering Herd.
Darryl Lawhorn finished the game 3-for-5 with one run scored and one RBI. Minicozzi went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and four RBI and has gone 12-for-19 in his last five games, with two home runs and 11 RBI. Adam Frederick led the Thundering Herd offense going 3-for-5. Chris Monaco, Corie O'Bryan and Mike Koitsopoulos each added two hits for Marshall which out-hit ECU, 11-9.
Minicozzi's two-run home run in the bottom of the second jump-started the offense for the Pirates. ECU sent 12 men to the plate in the second. Minicozzi's fifth home run of the season put ECU ahead, 2-0. ECU added five more runs in the inning. John Poppert and Drew Costanzo hit back-to-back singles and Billy Richardson walked to load the bases. Costanzo scored when Marshall's center fielder dropped a fly ball giving the Pirates a 3-0 advantage. Trevor Lawhorn's sacrifice fly plated another run and Darryl Lawhorn followed with an RBI single as the Pirates led, 5-0. Minicozzi drove in his fourth RBI of the inning with a two-run single to left field for a 7-0 ECU lead.
Minicozzi scored the final run for the Pirates in the bottom of the fifth. After being hit by a pitch, he moved to third on a wild pitch. Richardson grounded out to plate ECU's final run putting the Pirates ahead, 8-0.
Marshall scored one run in the top of the eighth. O'Bryan singled in Frederick pulling the Thundering Herd within, 8-1. Marshall added another run in the top of the ninth. Monaco grounded out to plate Joe Glevenyak for the 8-2 final.
Marshall loaded the bases in the seventh and ninth innings but Bishop and Andrews pitched out of the jam for the Pirates.
ECU wraps up its home-stand this weekend when No. 14 Tulane visits Greenville for a three-game set in the Conference USA opener for both teams. Friday's game is scheduled for 7 p.m.
