Wright homers twice, ECU evens series with Monmouth

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on March 20, 2010 11:06 PM

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ECU

Sports Information

GREENVILLE -- Sophomore Zach Wright belted a pair of home runs and drove in a career-best four RBI to lead 16th-ranked East Carolina to a 11-4 win over Monmouth University on Saturday afternoon.

Wright and freshman John Wooten collected three hits apiece and Seth Maness kept the Hawks at bay, striking out eight hitters. Maness worked seven-plus innings and surrendered four earned runs on eight hits.

Three relievers helped the Pirates even the weekend series 1-1.

Tied at 1-1 after 21/2 innings, East Carolina increased its lead to 5-1 when four consecutive batters reached base with two outs. Wooten got things started with an infield single, and took second when Corey Thompson drew a free pass.

Devin Harris drove in the first run with an RBI double, which plated Wooten. The extra-base knock set the table for Wright, who slugged the first of his two home runs.

The Hawks (3-5 overall) pulled within 5-4 in the fourth inning.

East Carolina (10-8) put the game out of reach, scoring two runs in the fifth inning on back-to-back home runs by Harris and Wright. The Pirates collected four runs in the sixth to take a commanding 11-4 lead.

The teams conclude the three-game series today.

Notes: Kyle Roller smacked his fifth home run in the first inning and moved into sole possession of third place on the school's all-time home runs list with 44. ... Roller now has 171 career RBI which ranks sixth all-time at ECU.