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Feb. 23, 2007

Box Score

ECU 5, St. John's 1 (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina junior pitcher T.J. Hose allowed one run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings to snap the Pirates four-game losing streak with a 5-1 win over St. John's in the second game of the ECU Invitational at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

Hose, who improved to 1-2 on the season, struck out a season-high seven batters while walking two on 95 pitches.

The Pirates (3-5) got a shutout and no-hit performance from their bullpen in the likes of Josh Ruhlman (1/3 inning), Brett Butts (1 1/3 inning) and Shane Mathews (1 inning with three strikeouts).

Suffering the loss for the Red Storm (0-4) was left-hander Matt Tosoni (0-1) after giving up three runs (two earned) in seven innings of work with five strikeouts. A quartet of relievers tried to keep the game close, but allowed a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth innings on two hits.

St. John's scored the games first run in the top of the first inning when Sam Deluca doubled to center field scoring Chris Joachim. With one out in the frame, Joachim had singled to right for the Red Storm's first hit.

In the bottom of the second inning, the Pirates plated a pair of runs to take a 2-1 lead. Corey Kemp led off the inning with a walk and moved to second base on a Stephen Batts' sacrifice down the third base line. Kemp would advance to third on Jake Dean's ground out to first and eventually score on Drew Schieber's single to right field tying the game at one. Sophomore Ryan Wood's single to left-center moved Schieber to third, and on a double steal by Schieber and Wood during Harrison Eldridge's at-bat, the Pirates were able to take the lead for good.

ECU blew the game open in the bottom of the eighth inning scoring three runs to put the game out of reach at 5-1. Eldridge lead the inning off by getting on base on a fielding error by Deluca. After Mollenhauer popped up to reliever Anthony Smith, Eldridge promptly stole second base and then went to second on Brandon Henderson's infield single. After Henderson's stolen base, Ryan Tousley got a free pass from St. John's B.J. Martin setting up the Pirates third run of the game. Kemp grounded out to third, scoring Eldridge for a 3-1 lead. First basemen Stephen Batts closed out the scoring with a single to center field that plated Tousley and Henderson.

offensively for the Pirates, Batts was the only hitter to collect multiple hits going 2-for-3 with two RBI. Schieber and Kemp each drove in a run, while five different Pirates scored runs. ECU was successful on the base paths, swiping 4-of-5 on the evening.

The Pirates will be back in action Saturday afternoon when they host Washington at 3 p.m. in the second game of the day. Duke, who improved to 8-0 on the season with a 4-3 win over Washington, will play St. John's at 11 a.m. Sunday's early game between St. John's and Washington has been moved up to Saturday night at 7 p.m. due to inclement weather heading into the eastern part of North Carolina.

Game 1: Duke 4, Washington 3
Duke 4, Washington 3 (PDF)
By Duke Athletic Media Relations Department

The Duke Blue Devils defeated the Washington Huskies, 4-3, on Friday afternoon at Clark-LeClair Stadium, scoring on an RBI groundout in the bottom of the ninth. The Blue Devils improve to 8-0 on the season while the Huskies, who won 36 games a year ago, fall to 0-4.

With the score knotted at 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth, shortstop Gabriel Saade hit a fly ball to center that was out of reach of a diving Andy Lentz. Saade, running all the way on the play, slide in safely at second base for a double. With second baseman Ryan McCurdy facing a 3-2 count, Saade broke for third on the pitch. McCurdy grounded out to second but Saade, who was waved home on the grounder, beat the throw to the plate, sliding under the catcher's tag to score the winning run.

Duke took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Third baseman Brett Bartles drew a walk to lead off the inning before moving to second on a sacrifice bunt by catcher Matt Williams. Two batters later, left fielder Alexander Hassan reached on a throwing error by Washington third baseman Matt Hague. The throw from Hague skipped past first baseman Curt Rindal, allowing Bartles to score from second.

The Blue Devils added a run in the bottom of the fifth to take a 2-0 lead. Hassan drew a one-out walk to start the inning. Two batters later, McCurdy singled to left center, moving Hassan to third. Center fielder Jonathan Anderson then laced an RBI-single to left field to score Hassan. Washington took a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh. After Hague led off the inning with a single to center, Rindal sent a two-run homer over the left field wall to tie the game at two runs apiece. Two batters later, shortstop Danny Cox lined a solo shot down the right field line, giving the Huskies the lead.

Duke tied the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth. Right fielder Jimmy Gallagher reached second on a two-base throwing error by Hague to begin the inning. First baseman Nate Freiman followed with a single to right to give the Blue Devils runners on the corners. Gallagher then scored on a fielder's choice to make it a 3-3 ballgame.

Saade went 2-for-4 on the day to pace the Blue Devils at the plate. Anderson and McCurdy both added a hit and an RBI and Bartles had an RBI for Duke.

Anderson (1-0) picked up his first win of the season, pitching a scoreless top of the ninth. Duke starter Tony Bajoczky, who had four strikeouts on the day, held the Huskies to two runs on four hits in 6.1 innings of work. Bajoczky limited Washington to only one hit through the first six innings.

The Blue Devils will face St. John's tomorrow at 11 a.m. before taking on East Carolina on Sunday. Sunday's game time will be decided upon on Saturday depending on Sunday's forecast.

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