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News Nuggets, 06.04.05
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

East Carolina hoops gets major talent infusion

Little more than two months after settling in as East Carolina's head basketball coach, Ricky Stokes has put his mark on the program's talent mix in significant fashion.

The Pirates' five-man recruiting haul for the spring signing period, announced Friday by Stokes, is diverse in physical attributes, talents and experience levels.

Comprised of a pair of junior college transfers and three prep players — all of whom played for successful teams — the newcomers are are likely to have varying degrees of impact on the court in 2005-06. But Stokes indicated that all will get an early look.

“ ... This is a very skilled group that can really shoot the basketball," he said in a release. "Each player in the class comes from a winning program and is eager to elevate ECU basketball to the next level. This is a very mature group of young men and each individual will have a chance to contribute during the upcoming season.”

Forward Tyronne Beale (6-9, 200 Silver Spring, MD/Allegany College) and guard Courtney Captain (6-1, 190 Galveston, TX/San Jacinto College) are among those expected to hit the floor running next season to leverage the most out of their two years of eligibility.

Beale, described by Stokes as "one of our main targets," averaged 22.2 points and 10.5 rebounds last season, finishing in the top ten nationally among NJCAA schools in both categories.

Captain, viewed by Stokes as having "great leadership qualities,” scored at a 16.3 clip, dished out 5.6 assists per game and shot almost 40 percent from three-point territory.

The incoming freshmen are frontcourt players Quinton Goods (6-9, 225 Greensboro/Charis Prep) and Justin Ramsey (6-10, 235 Chesapeake, VA/Calvary Christian High) and shooting guard Sam Hinnant (6-4, 190 Charlotte/Fork Union Military Academy).

From a staff report and an ECU Athletics release.

Region recaps involving C-USA, Carolinas teams

NCAA Baseball Capsules
By The Associated Press

South Carolina 6, Michigan 5

ATLANTA — South Carolina pushed across a run in the ninth inning without getting a ball out of the infield for a 6-5 victory over Michigan in the opening round of the NCAA tournament Friday.

Steve Pearce drove in the winning run with a bases-loaded single off the glove of Michigan shortstop Leif Mahler.

The Wolverines (41-18) rallied in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 5. Mahler led off with a double, and two outs later, Kyle Bohm came through with a two-out single off South Carolina closer Brent Marsh.

The Gamecocks (39-21) bounced back in the bottom half off Michigan reliever Derek Feldkamp (9-5). Davy Gregg led off with a two-strike bunt single. He beat the throw on a sacrifice bunt and then took third while no one covered as they argued. A walk loaded the bases, and Pearce followed with a hard liner that slipped under Mahler's glove.

Marsh (4-3) wound up with the win after blowing the save.

Georgia Tech 5, Furman 4

ATLANTA — Jeff Kindel drove in the winning run with a two-out drive off the wall in the 10th inning, and Georgia Tech staved off a major upset by getting past Furman 5-4.

The Yellow Jackets (43-17), seeded No. 2 nationally, struggled to put away the Paladins (30-28), who haven't been in the NCAA tournament since 1991.

Georgia Tech left 12 runners on, had two others thrown out on the bases and didn't come close to matching its average of 9.7 runs per game.

The Yellow Jackets went ahead 4-3 on Andy Hawranick's bases-loaded single in the seventh. Furman pulled even in the eighth on Case Cassedy's run-scoring groundout.

Nick Hollstegge (2-2) came on for Furman in the 10th. He walked two before Kindel's hit.

Winthrop 2, Wichita State 1

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Kevin Slowey scattered seven hits in a complete game and Winthrop defeated Wichita State 2-1.

Winthrop (44-20) scored in the eighth on Tommy Lentz's RBI single, and Slowey retired the Shockers (49-23) in order in the ninth.

Slowey (14-2), a junior, struck out 13 and walked none.

Wichita State's Mike Pelfrey (12-3) allowed eight hits and struck out seven in a complete game.

Creighton 8, N.C. State 3

LINCOLN, Neb. — Tony Daniel drove in four runs with a double and triple and Creighton beat North Carolina State 8-3.

The win was Creighton's first in four NCAA tournament appearances since 1992. The Bluejays (47-15), who beat Nebraska in two of three regular-season meetings, advanced to a winners' bracket, instate matchup with the Cornhuskers.

Creighton starter Eric Wordekemper (6-0) pitched seven solid innings.

The Bluejays took a 6-0 lead against the Wolfpack (40-18). Chris Gradoville homered in the second against NC State starter Gib Hobson (6-4).

College of Charleston 5, Oral Roberts 2

CLEMSON, S.C. — Brett Gardner had a two-run single to extend his hitting streak to 25 games and Ryan Edell worked 7 2-3 strong innings in the College of Charleston's 5-2 victory over Oral Roberts.

Gardner, who leads the nation with 121 hits, didn't make an impact for the Cougars (48-13) until he came up with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth and singled to put Charleston up 5-2.

Edell (8-2) kept the Golden Eagles (40-19) off stride most of the way. He retired the first 13 batters before Ricky Rivera's homer in the fifth.

Clemson 12, North Carolina A&T 2

CLEMSON, S.C. — Tyler Colvin's two-run triple in the seventh gave Clemson the lead for good and the Tigers broke open an unexpectedly tight game against North Carolina A&T with 11 runs in the last two innings for a 12-2 victory.

The Aggies (27-26) were making their first NCAA appearance and starter Michael Hauff (8-5) had a 2-1 lead in the seventh when Clemson's offense took over.

After two walks, Taylor Harbin blooped a one-out single that tied the game. Colvin followed with a liner that landed just shy of the 400-foot mark in straightaway center, giving Clemson (40-21) a 5-3 lead. Travis Storrer added an RBI single and Stan Widmann a run-scoring grounder before Herman Demmink hit a three-run triple.

Rice 7, Northwestern State 3

BATON ROUGE, La. — A two-run homer by Josh Rodriguez in the seventh inning lifted Rice to a 7-3 victory over Northwestern State.

Tied at 3, Adam Hale drew a two-out walk. On the next pitch, Rodriguez homered off reliever Shawn Johnston (2-1) for the lead. Rodriguez was 2-for-5 with two RBIs. The Owls (42-17) scored two unearned runs in eighth.

Josh Geer (11-4) allowed three runs and eight hits in a complete-game win over the Demons (40-19).

Tulane 17, Southern 7

NEW ORLEANS — Mark Hamilton drove in seven runs with a grand slam and a three-run homer and top-seeded Tulane beat Southern University 17-7.

Tulane (51-9) had 21 hits in holding off Southern (29-17), which had 13 hits. Tulane led Conference USA in batting average, slugging percentage, runs scored and home runs with 75, seven of which were grand slams.

The Green Wave trailed 2-0 when they sent 10 batters to the plate in the bottom of the second. They scored five runs on four hits and an error to take a 5-2 lead.

In the fifth, Hamilton, who went 4-for-5, hit the grand slam that put Tulane up 9-4. He hit the three-run homer in the eighth.

Brandon Gomes (8-2) got the victory, while Daniel Latham got his 10th save.

Oklahoma 5, Southern Miss 4

OXFORD, Miss. — Kody Kaiser sparked a three-run fifth inning with a two-run homer to lead Oklahoma to a 5-4 victory over Southern Mississippi.

Eric Thornton also homered and drove in two runs for the Sooners (34-24).

The Golden Eagles (41-20) made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth. Chris Matesich made it a one-run game with a one-out, solo homer off closer Will Savage, and Kevin Coker singled two batters later to bring the winning run to the plate. But Savage got Marc Maddox to ground out to end the game.

Oklahoma starter Daniel McCutchen (4-5) settled down after a rocky first three innings in which allowed three runs.

North Carolina 5, Notre Dame 1

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Robert Woodard gave up one run and six hits in his first career complete game to lead North Carolina to a 5-1 win over Notre Dame.

The Irish (36-23-1) scored in the first inning and threatened only once after that as Woodard (8-0) struck out four and walked two. He has allowed only five earned runs in his last six appearances, a span of 37 2-3 innings.

Chad Flack had three hits and two RBIs and Josh Horton and Greg Mangum each drove in a run for the Tar Heels (14-17-1).

Waco Regional

WACO, Texas — The Texas Christian-Stanford was postponed by bad weather that included heavy rain and lightning.

Coastal Carolina 12, UNLV 8

TEMPE, Ariz. — Aaron Verrett drove in four runs with a homer, double and single and Coastal Carolina beat UNLV 12-8.

Verrett hit a two-run homer in the fourth and had an RBI double in a seven-run fifth that broke a 3-3 tie. He drove in a run in the seventh.

Jon Foisy had four hits and Chris Todd added three for Coastal Carolina (49-14), which had 19 hits.

Chris Bonnell, who hit a two-run homer in the third, and Zeke Parraz each had four hits for UNLV (34-28).

Ricky Shefka (12-2) pitched 6 innings to get the win. UNLV starter Matt Luca (5-7) took the loss.

Arizona State 9, East Carolina 6

TEMPE, Ariz. — Jeff Larish hit two home runs and Jason Urquidez held East Carolina to six hits over six innings as Arizona State beat the Pirates 9-6.

Larish hit his 18th homer of the season on the first pitch of the first inning and added a two-run shot in the sixth after getting hit by pitches in two of his other plate appearances.

With the two homers, Larish moved past Barry Bonds into second place on the career list at Arizona State (35-22) with 47, nine behind Bob Horner.

Urquidez (9-4) allowed two runs in the first and then retired 13 of the next 15 Pirates (35-25), striking out seven.

East Carolina starter T.J. Hose (7-4) gave up five runs on six hits in 1 1-3 innings.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007 12:24 PM