COLLEGE BASEBALL Recap & Box Score — East Carolina 2, North Carolina State 1 (13 innings)

GREENVILLE — Thirteen was anything but unlucky for East Carolina on Wednesday night as the Pirates edged rival N.C. State 2-1 in 13 innings before a Clark-LeClair Stadium record crowd of 5,041.

Some of the throng had made their way to the exits before Jamie Ray, wearing tinted Nike contacts which reduce glare, drove a pitch from Wolfpack freshman Joey Cutler up the middle to score pinch runner Stephen Batts from second with the winning run.

"They're the same kind that Brian Roberts (Baltimore Orioles second baseman) wears," Ray said of the contacts.

Ray used his enhanced vision as he looked at his winning hit elude Pack defenders up the middle. State centerfielder Matt Camp could not field the hit cleanly and there was no throw to the plate.

"I watched it and then I turned and watched Batts running home," Ray said. "Just a great feeling."

The Pirates evened the score for the season with the Wolfpack at a win each with a rubber game next Tuesday night in Raleigh. State staged a rally to defeat visiting ECU 5-4 on Mar. 29.

The win over NCSU, whose highest national ranking is No. 12, gives the Pirates three straight victories and a 22-13 record as Coach Billy Godwin's first club at ECU ultimately looks to extend its string of NCAA Tournament bids to eight.

"We've kind of rededicated ourself to the second half (of the season) and we're 5-1," Godwin said. "I told our players not to worry about the NCAA Tournament, let's just go out and focus on winning every game. It's the little things that take care of the big things."

It was also a long thing — the third longest game in ECU history, according to university media relations personnel. The Pirates defeated North Carolina 7-6 in 15 innings on April 9, 1979, and were 8-2 winners over UNC-Pembroke in 14 frames on April 20, 1973.

"Perseverence," Godwin said. "As coaches we talk about perseverance and staying the course, not giving in, and that was a great testament of what we did tonight."

Adam Witter drew a two out walk for ECU in the 13th and Ryan Wood beat out an infield single before Ray got his first hit in six at-bats on the night.

Ray's winning single raised Shane Mathews' record to 4-2. The schedule allowed Godwin to send some of his best arms against the Pack. T.J. Hose started and went 8 2/3 innings. He allowed six hits and one run before lefty Jason Neitz checked the Pack bats with perfect pitching for 3 1/3.

With a three-game non-conference home series this weekend against Albany, ECU may once again be able to keep some of its premier pitching talent in reserve for that rematch at N.C. State's Doak Field.

Witter's solo homer in the fourth accounted for ECU's first run. Witter, who wears No. 23 in honor of former ECU coach Keith LeClair, sent an offering from Pack starter Gib Hobson to the football practice area well beyond right field for a 1-0 lead.

ECU loaded the bases in the 11th without scoring, but didn't miss its 2-out opportunity in the 13th.

"As I look back over seasons, you can almost go back to one incident which turned your season around," Godwin said. "We may look back and say, 'This is kind of what got us going.' You don't know that now, but you may look back and say it."

2006 BASEBALL BOX SCORE

Game No. 35
EAST CAROLINA 2, NORTH CAROLINA STATE 1 (13 INNINGS)

• VIEW ECU SID REPORT
• VIEW NCSU SID REPORT

Date: Apr. 12, 2006
Place: Clark-LeClair Stadium, Greenville, NC.

Records: East Carolina 22-13; North Carolina State 27-10.

N.C. STATE AB R H BI
Camp cf.............. 6 1 2 0
Cone dh.............. 3 0 0 0
Synan ph............. 1 0 0 0
Still ph............. 1 0 0 0
Bates 1b............. 4 0 2 1
Aragon rf............ 5 0 0 0
Corona 2b............ 5 0 1 0
Mangini 3b........... 5 0 0 0
Mangum c............. 4 0 0 0
Hubbard lf........... 3 0 1 0
Pond ph/lf........... 2 0 0 0
Diaz ss.............. 5 0 1 0
Hobson p............. 0 0 0 0
Duncan p............. 0 0 0 0
Rutter p............. 0 0 0 0
Walls p.............. 0 0 0 0
Engle p.............. 0 0 0 0
High p............... 0 0 0 0
Cutler p............. 0 0 0 0
Totals...............44 1 7 1

EAST CAROLINA AB R H BI
Eldridge rf.......... 4 0 1 0
Mollenhauer ss....... 4 0 0 0
Smith c.............. 6 0 0 0
Witter 1b............ 4 1 1 1
Batts pr............. 0 1 0 0
Wood 2b.............. 5 0 1 0
Ray lf............... 6 0 1 1
Mattox cf............ 5 0 3 0
Tousley dh........... 2 0 0 0
Henderson ph......... 1 0 0 0
Hodges ph/dh......... 1 0 0 0
Schieber 3b.......... 4 0 0 0
Hose p............... 0 0 0 0
Neitz p.............. 0 0 0 0
Mathews p............ 0 0 0 0
Totals...............42 2 7 2

SCORE BY INNINGS R H E
N.C. STATE........ 000 001 000 000 0 - 1 7 1
EAST CAROLINA..... 000 100 000 000 1 - 2 7 0

Note: 2 outs, 2 runners LOB when game ended.

E - Camp (3).
DP - ECU 2.
LOB - NCSU 6; ECU 11.
2B - Diaz (4).
HR - Witter (6).
HBP - Bates.
SH - Eldridge (2); Mollenhauer (5); Hodges (1).
SB - Corona (6); Mollenhauer (5).

NCSU PITCHING IP H R ER BB SO
Hobson........ 5.0 3 1 1 1 2
Duncan........ 2.2 1 0 0 1 0
Rutter........ 0.1 0 0 0 0 0
Walls......... 2.0 1 0 0 0 2
Engle......... 0.1 0 0 0 2 1
High.......... 0.0 0 0 0 1 0
Cutler........ 2.1 2 1 1 1 1

ECU PITCHING IP H R ER BB SO
Hose.......... 8.2 6 1 1 1 2
Neitz......... 3.1 0 0 0 0 4
Mathews....... 1.0 1 0 0 0 2

Win - Mathews (4-2).
Loss - Cutler (0-1).
Save - None.
HBP - by Hose (Bates).

Umps - HP: John Haggerty; 1B: Rhett Raynor; 3B: Steve Sanders.

Start: 7:05; Time: 3:17.
Attendance: 5,041 (New all-time attendance record for an ECU home game).

Game notes: None.

Page updated: 02/23/2007 11:24 AM.

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