Pirates Sweep Blazers With A 6-5 Win Sunday
May 15, 2005 | Baseball
The Pirates (32-20, 16-11 C-USA) have now won nine of their last 10 Conference USA road games with the sweep of the Blazers. UAB falls to 30-23 overall and 13-14 in conference play with the loss.
Minicozzi finished the day 3-for-5, tying a career-high with four RBI on the day. Five other Pirates recorded multiple hits with Dale Mollenhauer and Jake Smith each recording an RBI. Smith, who left in the third inning with a knee injury, finished the day 2-for-2. Adam Witter, who went 2-for-5, scored two runs to lead ECU.
Starter Brett Braxton allowed five runs on four hits while walking three and striking out four in the no decision. Connelly allowed just one hit in four innings of work while walking three UAB batters. The senior lefthander also struck out two batters, earning his fourth win of the season. Ricky Brooks came on in the ninth to get the Pirates out of a jam, recording his first save of the season in one inning on the mound.
Grant Addison allowed four runs on eight hits while striking out two in 3 2/3 innings of work. Adam Price tossed 2 2/3 innings in relief of Addison, allowing two runs on four hits while walking one and striking out one. Eric Roberts also threw 2 2/3 innings, giving up just two hits while walking one and striking out one.
J.R. Bond was the lone Blazer with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with one run. Zac Ward collected two RBI and Clint Toomey finished with two runs to lead UAB.
Smith hit a bloop single to left-center with two outs in the first, scoring Witter from third to give ECU the 1-0 lead.
Toomey tied the game up in the bottom half of the first when he scored from third on a Ward double play groundout.
The Pirates took a 3-1 lead in the second when Minicozzi hit his fifth homer of the season with a shot to left, scoring Ryan Peisel, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.
Mollenhauer hit a double to the warning track in center, scoring Harrison Eldridge from third to extend the ECU lead to 4-1 in the fourth.
Braxton loaded the bases before walking home the Blazers' second run of the game in the fifth. After Connelly relieved Braxton with no outs in the inning, a fielder's choice groundout allowed the second run of the inning to score before a Ward bloop single to left brought home two more Blazer runners to give UAB the 5-4 lead after five.
With runners on the corners and two outs in the top of the seventh, Minicozzi hit the double to left, scoring Witter from third and Costanzo from first to put the Pirates back ahead for good.
The Pirates will make their final regular season road trip with an in-state contest versus North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Tuesday, May 17 at 6 p.m.
