|
COLLEGE BASEBALL
2012 Game No. 56
Conference USA Championship Tournament
• \Jump
to Box Score/
ECU miscues costly in
tourney opener
From staff and electronic reports
View the Mobile Alpha version of this report.
East Carolina outhit Tulane and lefthander Kevin
Brandt hurled his fourth complete game of the season, but a pair of infield
errors allowed No. 3 seed Green Wave to grab a pair of gift-wrapped runs
that proved decisive in a 4-3 Wednesday night victory over the 6th-seeded
Pirates.
Tulane's win concluded first-day action in the
Conference USA Championship tournament at Trustmark Park in Pearl, MS.
No. 5 seed Memphis pounded 4th-seed Southern Miss 14-3 in the day's opener
and top seed Rice mounted a 7-5 comeback triumph over 8th-seed Houston in
the second game.
Brandt (7-6) parceled out eight singles, walked
none and surrendered only two earned runs in the type of solid pitching
performance that has typified his senior campaign. But, as has been the case
on multiple occasions this season, Brandt's mound exploits were negated by
shortcomings in other aspects of the team's game.
Trailing 2-1 with two outs in the top of the 6th,
East Carolina's fortunes seemed to take a positive turn when sophomore
designated hitter Chase McDonald doubled and junior outfielder Jay Cannon
singled to drive in McDonald, knotting the score.
But with two outs in the bottom of the frame, the
Green Wave (38-18) got that run back and an extra one courtesy of
back-to-back ECU snafus. With men on first and third, sophomore shortstop
Jack Reinheimer misplayed a grounder that allowed one runner to score and
the other to advance to third. On the following play, senior third baseman
Corey Thompson fielded a grounder but uncorked a bad throw to first, sending
another run across the plate.
Tulane's resulting 4-2 lead came under threat in
the 9th as the Pirates produced a run when Reinheimer singled, moved to
second on a balk and came home on a two-out single by Thompson. But Wave
closer D.J. Ponder got junior first baseman John Wooten on a popup in foul
territory to end the game.
Junior righthander Alex Byo (9-4) gave up three
runs on 11 hits and a walk over eight innings to pick up the win.
The tournament's pod format gives the Pirates
(34-21-1) an off day on Thursday. East Carolina finishes its pod pairings
with games against No. 2 seed Central Florida on Friday (4 p.m.) and
7th-seed UAB on Saturday (4 p.m.)
The opposite pod features Rice,
Southern Miss, Memphis and Houston. The pod winners will meet for the championship and
the league's automatic NCAA Tournament bid on Sunday at 2 p.m. in a game to
be televised by the CBS Sports Network.
BOX SCORE #56
Tulane 4, East Carolina 3
•
ECU SID GAME STORY
•
TU SID GAME STORY
•
C-USA TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE & SCOREBOARD
Date: Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Event: Conference USA Championship Tournament
Venue: Trustmark Park, Pearl, MS
Attendance: 2,566
Records: ECU 34-21-1; TU 38-18.
|
