East Carolina University
Southern Mississippi
Pirates Lose Heartbreaker in Eleventh Inning, 11-10
May 06, 2006 | Baseball
May 6, 2006
(29) USM 11, ECU 10 (11 innings) (PDF)
HATTIESBURG, MISS - Southern Miss' Kevin Coker crossed the plate in the bottom of the eleventh inning on a wild pitch to give the No. 29 Golden Eagles an 11-10 win Friday night at Pete Taylor Park.
ECU (28-18, 7-9) took a 10-8 lead into the bottom of the ninth on Adam Hodges pinch hit single up the middle scoring Jake Smith.
Southern Miss (32-16, 8-8) answered in the bottom of half of the frame on Drew Carson's two-RBI single to left field that knotted the game at ten.
Coker led of the eleventh with a single through the left side and advanced to second on a Carson sacrifice bunt. ECU pitcher Chris Powell's balk sent Coker to third to set up the winning run.
Daniel Best improved to 5-1 on the season after working 2 2/3 innings, allowing five hits while striking out two. Golden Eagles starter David Clark lasted just 1 1/3 inning after surrendering five runs on three hits before giving way to Bryan Adams. Along with Adams, three other pitchers bridged the gap until Best came into the game.
Powell dropped to 0-2 on the year after throwing 1/3 of an inning, where he recorded one strikeout. Pirate starter Brody Taylor went 4 1/3 innings giving up six runs on six hits while fanning four. Jason Neitz made his 19th appearance on the season tying his season high in innings pitched, 3 1/3, and allowing one run. T.J. Hose made his third appearance out of the pen lasting just 1/3 of an inning and giving up two runs before giving way to Scott Andrews.
Smith led the Pirates offensively going 3-for-6 from the plate with two RBI. Ryan Tousley also drove in a pair of runs on one hit, while Harrison Eldridge (1-for-6), Dale Mollenhauer (2-for-6), Jake Dean (2-for-5) and Hodges (1-for-1) each drove in a run.
Four Golden Eagles had multi-hits on the night and were led by Marc Maddox's three hits, one of which was a three-run homer. Jody Blount (2-for-5), Bo Davis (2-for-4) and Brian Dozier (2-for-5) were the other batter with two or more hits.
ECU jumped out early on Southern Miss when Dale Mollenhauer cranked his third home run of the season in the top of the first inning, a solo shot to right field, to put the Pirates up 1-0.
The Pirates extended their lead to 6-0 when they plated five runs in the top of the second. Smith highlighted the inning with a two-RBI single to left field that scored Dean and Tousley. Dean started the scoring with a single to left field that scored Ryan Wood and Brandon Henderson. Eldridge also scored in the inning on a passed ball.
Blount scored the Golden Eagles first run of the game in the bottom half of the second frame with a solo shot to left field cutting the lead to 6-1. For Blount it was his seventh home run of the season.
Tousley drove in two more runs in the top of the third with a single up the middle scoring Wood and Dean to extend the lead to 8-1.
Maddox highlighted a Southern Miss five-run inning with a three-run shot to left field pulling within two, 8-6. Earlier in the inning Davis laced a triple down the left field line scoring Carson and Michael Ewing. After Trey Sutton walked to put runners on the corners, Maddox smashed 13th home run.
Southern Miss pulled within one, 8-7, on a Davis' sacrifice fly to left field that scored Carson in the bottom of the sixth.
Jay Mattox started the top of the seventh when he reached on a Dozier fielding error. He then advanced to second and a Wood sacrifice bunt before scoring on a pair of Bowden wild pitches to push ECU's lead to two, 9-7.
Dozier's two-out single up the middle scored Davis to put the game at 9-8 in the bottom of the eighth inning.
ECU and Southern Miss will be back in action Saturday when they meet for game two starting at 5 pm (EST).
