No. 14 Tulane Holds No. 18 ECU in Extra Innings
March 20, 2004 | Baseball
GREENVILLE, N.C. ? Tulane's Greg Dini hit a solo home run in the top of the 11th and the Green Wave added three more runs off a failed pick-off attempt as No. 14 Tulane pulled off a 14-10 win over No. 18 East Carolina (18-4, 1-1 C-USA) Saturday night at Harrington Field. The Green Wave (14-7, 1-1 C-USA) snapped ECU's 19-game home winning streak in a game that lasted four hours and 49 minutes.
Ryan Jones and Mike Grace each finished 3-for-6 at the plate for the Pirates. Jones added four RBI including his eighth homer of the season, a two-run blast to tie the game in the eighth. Matt Barket led Tulane going 4-for-7 with two runs scored. Ryan Norwood and John Poppert each added two hits for the Pirates.
Joey Charron earned the win in relief for Tulane. Charron pitched two scoreless innings striking out three and giving up only two hits. Kevin Rhodes, one of six ECU pitchers on the night, suffered the loss after allowing one earned run in 2 1/3 innings of work.
Dini led off the 11th inning with a solo homer to right field to put the Green Wave ahead, 11-10. Tommy Manzella then doubled with no outs. Jason Pyle reached on a fielder's choice and moved to third after Rhodes hit Nathan Southard and Joe Holland back-to-back to load the bases with two outs. Freshman right-hander Shane Mathews then came in to pitch for Rhodes. Mathews tried to pick Pyle off of third, but the throw went errant and rolled down the left field line allowing all three runners to score for the 14-10 Tulane lead. Charron retired the last three ECU batters in order in the bottom of the 11th for the win.
ECU had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the 10th after Rhodes sat the Green Wave down in order in the top of the inning. Brett Lindgren singled through the left side putting the winning-run on with no outs, but Charron picked Lindgren off of first for the first out of the inning. Jamie Paige and Jones hit back-to-back singles putting runners in scoring position, but Charron struck out Trevor Lawhorn and got Darryl Lawhorn to pop up to get out of the jam.
Jones' two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth tied the game, 9-9. Tulane went back on top, 10-9, in the top of the ninth when Brian Bogusevic scored on a wild pitch. ECU forced extra innings in the bottom of the ninth. Grace's RBI single up the middle scored Brian Cavanaugh for the 10-10 tie.
Tulane used a five-run seventh inning to take a, 9-7 lead. The Green scored the five runs on three hits.
Mark Minicozzi's sixth home run of the season put the Pirates ahead, 5-4, in the bottom of the sixth. ECU loaded the bases. Ryan Jones' two-run double pushed the Pirates ahead, 7-4.
Tulane loaded the bases and tied the game, 4-4, in the top of the sixth. Matt Barket and Wes Swackhamer hit back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. Mark Hamilton was hit by a pitch with the bases load to make it, 4-3. Nathan Southard's infield single tied the game,
Bogusevic's two-out two-run home run in the top of the fourth put the Green Wave on top, 2-1. ECU retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Ryan Norwood doubled to lead off the fourth and scored on a two-base error tying the game, 2-2. Grace's RBI double plated Minicozzi giving the Pirates a 3-2 lead. Billy Richardson drove in Grace for a 4-2 ECU lead.
East Carolina jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Mike Grace singled and advanced to third on John Poppert's double. Crowel walked Billy Richardson to load the bases with no outs. Crowel then struck out Jamie Paige for the first out of the inning. Jones then grounded out to bring in Grace for the game's first run putting the Pirates ahead, 1-0.
Bogusevic and Southard each added two hits for Tulane. Greg Bunn started the game for the Pirates and struck out five through six innings while allowing four runs on six hits before leaving the game with ECU ahead. J.R. Crowel tossed 5 1/3 innings and recorded nine strikeouts while allowing six earned runs on eight hits.
ECU and Tulane will wrap up the series Sunday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. ECU freshman right-hander Ricky Brooks will start on the mound. Tulane will counter with right-hander Cory Hahn.
