Cougs approach historic mark with 19th win

From electronic and staff reports
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Junior righthander Daniel Poncedeleon handcuffed East Carolina on two runs over eight innings and his Houston teammates out-hit the Pirates 13-6 to capture a 7-2 victory Friday night at Cougar Field in the Conference USA opener for both teams.

Poncedeleon struck out eight while parceling out five hits as the Cougars upped their overall record to 19-4, the program's best 23-game start since 1989's 21-2 mark.

As Poncedeleon tamed the ECU bats, Houston (19-4, 1-0 C-USA) scored runs in the first, second and fourth innings to build a 3-0 lead.

After the Pirates (11-11, 0-1) put up a run in the top of the fifth on Jay Cannon's RBI groundout, the Cougars responded in the bottom of the inning by breaking the game open.

In its turn at bat, Houston chased ECU starter Jeff Hoffman with a four-run outburst. The offensive sparks were fueled by a single, a double, a triple, a walk and a pair of wild pitches.

Junior outfielder Dylan Brown's eighth inning home run gave the Pirates a play for the highlight reel, but it had no impact on the win-loss ledger.

Junior shortstop Frankie Ratcliff went 3-for-3, scored three times and had a pair of RBIs to lead the Houston batting attack.

The loss was ECU's third in a row and the sixth in its last eight games.

Poncedeleon improved to 3-2 with the victory, while Hoffman, a sophomore righthander, fell to 2-3.

The teams will face off again Saturday night (7:30 pm). The three-game set will conclude on Sunday (2 p.m.).

PAGE UPDATED 03/23/13 02:58 AM.

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