ECU blanks Cal State Fullerton

Published in Sports on March 11, 2007 10:10 AM

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GREENVILLE -- East Carolina starter Dustin Sasser tossed 61/3 innings of shutout ball as the Pirates handed No. 7 Cal State Fullerton their second loss of the series 2-0 inside Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium Saturday afternoon.

In front of 3,418 roaring fans, a quartet of Pirate (10-6) pitchers and timely hitting snapped the Titans (12-7) 16 consecutive series win streak, which started ironically in March of 2006 when they swept the Pirates in a three-game series at Goodwin Field.

Sasser improved to 2-0 on the year after his season-high outing, striking out three with no walks and allowing three hits. The Charles B. Aycock graduate faced 23 batters, five over the minimum, throwing 78 pitches with 54 strikes before giving way to Brett Butts, who closed out the seventh inning. Jason Neitz worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning on 16 pitches before giving way to Shane Mathews to close the game for his fifth save of the season.

Jeff Kaplan drops to 3-2 on the year after scattering five hits over six innings, including one run (earned), with four walks and three punch outs. Dustin Birosak worked two-thirds of an inning in relief, giving up one run, while Adam Jorgenson closed the final 11/3 with one strikeout.

In the bottom of the sixth inning Jake Dean put the Pirates on the board, 1-0, with a sac fly that scored Ryan Tousley from third. Tousley had led off the frame with a walk then moved over to second on Corey Kemp's second hit of the day, a single up the middle. Both Tousley and Kemp advanced 90 feet on a Kaplan wild pitch, setting up the winning run.

ECU added an insurance run in the seventh when Tousley's grounder to second took a wicked hop over Joel Weeks head scoring Drew Schieber and pushing the lead to 2-0.

Offensively for the Pirates, Kemp and Dean each picked up a pair of hits, while Tousley, Dale Mollenhauer, and freshman Broc Sutton tallied one a piece.

ECU will look for a series sweep this afternoon at noon when sophomore Josh Dowdy takes the mound for the Pirates facing Sean Urena.

ALSO SATURDAY

North Carolina 3, Miami 1

CHAPEL HIL -- Freshman Alex White struck out seven and gave up one unearned run in seven-plus innings to lead North Carolina to a 3-1 victory against Miami on Saturday.

White (3-0) allowed five hits and walked six and Andrew Carignan picked up his second straight save for the Tar Heels (14-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference).

Dustin Ackley had his fourth straight multi-hit game, including an RBI triple in the bottom of the eighth. Reid Fronk had two hits and drove in the go-ahead run in the third.

Eric Erickson (2-2) allowed just two runs on eight hits over seven innings for the Hurricanes (10-8, 0-2 ACC). Jemile Weeks had two of the Hurricanes' five hits.

FRIDAY'S GAME

ECU 6, Cal State Fullerton 1

GREENVILLE -- Junior T.J. Hose scattered three hits over seven innings as the East Carolina Pirates took down No. 7 Cal State Fullerton 6-1 Friday afternoon inside Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

For the Pirates, it was their firs win over a top-10 team inside the friendly confines of Clark-LeClair Stadium since Mar. 6, 2005 when they defeated No. 7 Georgia 7-1 in the LeClair Classic.

Hose, who improved to 3-2 on the year and won his second straight start, allowed just one run (earned) while walking three and fanning six Titan batters. The Pirates bullpen, once again shut down the opposition as Brett Butts and Shane Mathews each tossed one inning of relief striking out a pair of hitters.

Cal State's Wes Roemer dropped to 3-3 on the year after working six innings, allowing six runs (four earned) on ten hits, punching out five and walking two. Michael Morrison relieved Roemer allowing one hit in two innings.

ECU jumped out on Cal State early in the first inning when Harrison Eldridge doubled off of Roemer to start the frame. Eldridge advanced to third on a failed pick off and then scored on Brandon Henderson's RBI groundout to short putting the Pirates up 1-0.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Pirates tacked on three more runs pushing its lead to 4-0 behind home runs from Ryan Tousley and Corey Kemp. Tousley led off the inning with a solo shot to right field, his second of the season. Sophomore Stephen Batts, who was 2-for-4 with a run scored, followed Tousley's shot with a double to left and then trotted home when Kemp smacked his first home run in a Pirate uniform to left.

Chris Jones accounted for the Titans only run of the contest when he unloaded on a 1-1 pitch from Hose to left field pulling within three, 4-1.

The Pirates answered in the sixth with two more runs pushing the lead to 6-1. With one out in the frame, Jake Dean laced a singe to right-center and then moved to second when Ryan Wood drew a free pass. Eldridge collected his third hit of the day when he singled home Dean and then picked up his second stolen base of the night right before Roemer air mailed his pickoff throw to center, scoring Wood from third.

Offensively for ECU, four Pirates picked up multiple hits on the day. Along with Eldridge's three hits and Batts two, Kemp and Dean also collected two hits each.

-- From college releases