East Carolina University
Southern Miss
ECU Splits Doubleheader With Southern Miss
May 11, 2014 | Baseball
May 11, 2014
Game 1 Box Score 
l Game 2 Box Score
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - East Carolina split a pair of road games against Southern Miss, winning 7-5 (15 Inn.) and losing 2-1, Saturday in Conference USA action. The Pirates (29-22, 14-12) took game one in 15 innings, but fell in the nightcap on a Golden Eagles (29-22, 16-10) walk-off infield single.
Southern Miss hurler Christian Talley was the story of game two tossing his second complete game of the season allowing one run (earned) on six hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts, which evened his record to 4-4 on the season.
Drew Reynolds (3-2) took the loss in relief allowing the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth. In his second outing of the day, Reynolds gave up one run (unearned) on three hits with a pair of strikeouts in 1.1 innings. ECU starter Tyler Bolton surrendered one run (earned) on seven hits with three punch-outs and two walks in 7.0 innings.
For the second time in the day, the Pirates jumped out to an early lead scoring a run in the third inning. Dylan Brown doubled down the right field line then crossed home on Hunter Allen's two-out single to center.
Bolton held the Golden Eagles in check through seven innings, despite allowing seven hits, but was pulled in the eighth frame after allowing a leadoff double to left center off the bat of Connor Barron. Reynolds took the hill facing Michael Sterling, who dropped down a sacrifice bunt in front of Luke Lowery at the plate. Lowery tried to get the lead runner at third, but Barron slid around the tag putting runners at the corners. A Reynolds wild pitch allowed Barron to score, knotting the game at one-all.
In the bottom of the ninth, Barron's infield single to Charlie Yorgen at second pushed across the game-winner. Michael Gilbert singled to right center and ended up on third on Nick Dawson's excuse-me slow-rolling single to third, where Houchins fired to first. With a bang-bang play at the bag, Dawson ran into Bryce Harman dislodging the ball from his glove and Gilbert sprinted over to third. Barron squared a ball up and sent a shot to second, where the infield was play in, but the ball was hit in the hole thus Yorgen wasn't able to turn a double play to get out of the jam.
Game One Recap
East Carolina scored two runs in the top of the 15th getting an RBI single by Brown and a RBI sac bunt by Joshua Lovick to take game one of the doubleheader 7-5. The 15-inning contest tied the school-record for longest game and is the longest since March 28, 1982 when the Pirates topped Ohio University 6-5.
With the game knotted at five-all, ECU had five-straight runners reach base and was started by consecutive singles from Houchins, Ian Townsend and Brown, which proved to be the game-winning hit that scored Houchins from third. ECU had runners on the corners and Lovick laid down a bunt back to the pitcher, who flipped home but was late on Townsend's slide.
Reynolds picked up the win tossing 1.1 scoreless frames. Starter Reid Love allowed four runs (three earned) on nine hits with a strikeout in 5.2 innings. Brett Mabry tossed 2.2 scoreless innings, while Ryan Williams gave up one run on six hits with a pair of punch-outs in 5.1 frames.
Ryan Milton (3-3) took the loss surrendering two runs (both earned) on three hits in one inning of relief. Conor Fisk allowed three runs (all earned) on six hits in seven innings of his start, while Bradley Roney worked a career-high 7.0 innings giving up two runs (both earned) on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts.
ECU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third thanks to RBI singles by Charlie Yorgen and Houchins. Yorgen singled to right center plating Hunter Allen and Houchins drove in Yorgen from second on a base knock back up the middle.
Four consecutive two-out hits by Southern Miss in the bottom of the fifth tied the game at two-all. Mason Robbins, who was 4-for-6 on the day, scored on Breck Kline's single to right field and Nick Dawson crossed home on Michael Sterling's single to left.
Houchins put ECU back on top in the top 3-2 of the sixth leading off with a solo home run, his third of the season, to left field.
But the lead was short lived as the Golden Eagles plated two runs with two outs in the bottom half of the frame for a 4-3 advantage.
Southern Miss held the lead until the top of the ninth, when Harman smacked his team-leading sixth home run, a solo shot to right field, that knotted the game at four-all. Both teams scored a run in the 14th inning making it a 5-5 game, before the Pirates plated two in the 15th.
ECU pounded out 16 hits in the contest with Houchins going 4-for-7 with a pair of RBI and runs scored. Allen, Lowery and Yorgen collected two hits each in the contest.
The two teams will play the rubber match of the series Sunday at 12 noon (ET) with David Lucroy taking the hill for ECU, while Cameron Giannini will counter for Southern Miss.
