ECU finishes off Herd as Wright delivers

From electronic and staff reports
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Four East Carolina hurlers combined for a three-hitter and their battery mate made their pitching efforts worthwhile with a clutch three-run double that lifted the Pirates to a 6-3 Conference USA victory over Marshall Sunday afternoon at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

Senior catcher Zach Wright's base-clearing two-bagger down the left field line in the bottom of the 7th drove in Drew Reynolds, Corey Thompson and John Wooten to transform a 3-3 standoff into a 6-3 lead.

Sophomore designated hitter Reynolds had reached on a single, senior third baseman Thompson had followed with a double and junior outfielder/first baseman Wooten was intentionally walked to set the stage for Wright's key blow.

A pair of stellar, short-haul relief pitching performances snuffed out any thoughts the Herd had of making a comeback. Junior lefthander Jake Harris retired the side in order in the 8th. Then Reynolds took over the mound duties in the 9th and fanned three to seal the outcome.

The Pirates took a 2-0 lead on single runs in the 3rd and 4th before Marshall finally got to ECU starter Jharel Cotton in the 5th. A junior righthander, Cotton had a no-hitter going for 4 2/3 innings until surrendering a triple to Marshall third baseman Gray Stafford. Cotton walked the next two batters to load the bases and then hit a batter to force in a run. Jeff Hoffman came on in relief and got the final out on a groundout.

Hoffman retired the Herd in order in the 6th and the Pirates built his working margin to 3-1 by producing a run in the bottom of the 6th on two singles and a walk.

Hoffman lost that cushion in the 7th, giving up two runs — one earned — on two hits and a throwing error. But the freshman righthander (2-1) got credit for the victory thanks to Wright's hitting prowess in the bottom of the 7th.

Senior lefthander Mike Mason started for Marshall and lasted 5 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and a pair of walks.

Three relief pitchers finished the game for the Herd with sophomore righthander Ryan Hopkins taking the loss despite logging only 1/3 of an inning. Hopkins (1-3) happened to be serving up the pitches when Wright and the Pirates put together their game-winning offensive outburst.

ECU outhit Marshall 14-3 with Reynolds going 4-for-5 and Wright going 3-for-4. No batter hit safely more than once for the Herd.

Combined with their 8-2 thumping of Marshall on Friday and an extra-inning comeback victory over the Herd on Saturday, the win cemented East Carolina's second league sweep of the season. ECU took three from UAB in the second week of the league campaign.

The Pirates step out of the league for home games with Elon on Tuesday (6 p.m.) and North Carolina on Wednesday (6 p.m.) ECU then hits the road to wrap up the C-USA regular season with a three-game set at Southern Miss starting Friday (7 p.m.)

PAGE UPDATED 05/07/12 05:46 AM.

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