East Carolina University
Pepperdine
Pepperdine Tops ECU in 11 Innings, 5-4
March 05, 2011 | Baseball
March 5, 2011
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From wire and staff reports
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Zach Vincej hit an RBI single off the third base bag in the 11th inning to lift Pepperdine to a marathon 5-4 win over East Carolina in the first game of a doubleheader at Clark-LeClair Stadium on Saturday.
Vincej, a sophomore shortstop, pulled a two-out, 1-1 offering from reliever Jake Harris (0-1) down the line, where it hit the bag and popped into the air as the winning run scored from third.
The Pirates got the leadoff man aboard in the bottom of the 11th, but reliever Matt Maurer got Corey Thompson to ground into a double play and struck out John Wooten to end it.
Thompson went 4-for-5 and drove in two for the Pirates (6-3), who stranded 11 men -- seven of them in scoring position. They left runners on third base in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings as Pepperdine held on to a 4-3 lead.
Vincej went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Waves (5-5), who were outhit 12-10.
Junior catcher Zach Wright hit his second home run of the season to tie it at 1-1 in the second inning. It was the Pirates' only extra-base hit of the game.
Trailing since the third inning, ECU tied it at 4-4 in the ninth when Jack Reinheimer hit a leadoff single, Trent Whitehead bunted him over and Thompson delivered an RBI single up the middle.
The teams combined to use 11 pitchers. Ricky Villarreal (1-0), one of four Pepperdine relievers employed, held the Pirates to an earned run on four hits in 2 1/3 innings before giving way to Maurer with a 2-0 count to Thompson.
Maurer, a left-hander, picked up his first save with a scoreless inning of work.
Two Pepperdine relievers -- right-hander Michael Swanner and left-hander Brian McIlhenny -- faced one batter each in the eighth.
The Waves went small to push across the game's first run in the second when, with runners on the corners and one out, Cody Yount executed a perfect safety squeeze to the first base side.
After Wright tied it in the bottom of the inning, Nate Johnson's RBI single gave Pepperdine a 2-1 lead in the third.
The Waves got gift-wrapped insurance in the fifth when ECU committed its only two errors -- including a two-base blunder on Wright's wayward throw to first -- and Vincej's RBI single made it 3-1.
ECU center fielder and leadoff man Trent Whitehead snapped an 0-for-16 slump when he led off the 11th with a sharp single to center.
With two outs in the top of the ninth, Wooten, the Pirates' left fielder, made what could be the play of the year so far. After misreading Kain's liner, he ran with his back to the field and stabbed it as he flopped to the ground.
