Pirates Fall To No. 7 Cal State Fullerton 8-1
March 12, 2006 | Baseball
March 12, 2006
CSF 8, ECU 1
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FULLERTON, CALIF. - The East Carolina baseball team dropped the final game of a three-game series Sunday afternoon to Cal State Fullerton, 8-1, in front of 927 fans at Goodwin Field.
Cal State (14-6) jumped on the board early picking up a run in the bottom of the first. Blake Davis got the scoring going with his fifth hit of the series on a single to right field. Davis advanced to second after Brett Pill was plunked in the head by Shane Mathews putting runners on first and second with one out. David Cooper singled to left scoring Davis from second, but Pill was thrown out at second for the second out. The Pirates got out of the early jam when Bryan Harris flied out to Harrison Eldridge to end the inning.
The Titans plated another run in the bottom of the second when John Curtis scored on a Brandon Tripp sacrifice bunt. Curtis led the inning with a single up the middle, his fourth hit of the series, and advanced to third on a Jared Clark single to right.
Mathews suffered the loss for the Pirates (12-6), his second of the season, after pitching 3 1/3 innings with six hits, four runs (all earned) and a pair of strikeouts. The Pirates saw five other pitchers get work on the day in Scott Andrews, Carter Harrell, Chris Powell, Jason Neitz and Kevin Rhodes all in relief.
ECU had four different batters with hits on the afternoon, highlighted by Adam Witter's solo shot in the top of the sixth. Jake Dean, Brandon Henderson and Stephen Batts also collected hits on the day.
Dustin Miller picked up his fourth win of the season for the Titans after working seven innings, giving up four hits and one run with four strike outs. Vinnie Pestano came in for the final two innings of relief facing six batters and striking out one.
Cal State had three guys with multiple hits with Cooper going 4-for-5 with a home run and four RBI, while Pill and Tripp each pounded out two hits.
The Pirates looked to answer the Titans run in the top of the second when Henderson and Batts collected back-to-back singles with two outs. Senior Jay Mattox loaded the bases for the Pirates with a walk before Ryan Wood hit a dribbler to Cal State's Harris at third for the force out to end the inning.
Tripp padded the Titans led in the bottom of the fourth when he connected on the first of his two home runs on the day, a two-run shot to right field off Mathews, to put Cal State up 4-0. With two outs in the inning, the Titans loaded the bases again after Turner singled and Davis and Pill each drew walks to set up a Cooper two-run single to put the game at 6-0.
In the bottom of the fifth Tripp roped his third home run of the year, hitting a solo shot to dead center extending the Titan lead to 7-0.
Witter recorded the Pirates first and only run of the series in the top of the sixth with a solo blast to right field, halting ECU's scoreless streak at 23 2/3 innings, making the game 7-1.
Titan freshman David Cooper added another Cal State run in the bottom of the sixth with his first career home run, a solo shot to right field, to push the score to 8-1.
The Pirates will continue their road swing next week when they travel to Wilmington, N.C. to face in-state rival UNC Wilmington for a mid-week clash on March 15 at 7 p.m.
