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Taylor, Smith Lead Pirates Over Tulane, 4-2
May 24, 2006
HOUSTON, Texas - Senior left-hander Brody Taylor scattered seven hits and allowed just one earned run in seven-plus innings of work while senior catcher Jake Smith's two-run homer proved to be the difference as sixth-seeded East Carolina posted a 4-2 victory over No. 3 Tulane during opening round action of the 2006 Conference USA Baseball Championships at Reckling Park Wednesday morning. The win marked the fourth first-round victory for the Pirates (33-24) in five C-USA Tournament appearances, which includes a stretch of three straight dating back to a 13-2 triumph over Louisville to start the 2004 tourney. ECU advances to the winner's bracket and will face No. 2 Houston, a 9-1 victor over Marshall, Thursday at 5:00 p.m. (EDT). Taylor (8-2), who pitched into the eighth inning for the seventh time in 2006, allowed just one earned run on seven hits while striking out one and walking three during his 113-pitch effort. Sophomore Shane Matthews closed out the victory in impressive fashion by earning his first career save after working an inning and two-thirds of hitless relief, fanning two of the six batters he faced. With the contest tied at 1-1, Jake Dean collected his second hit of the contest, lacing a single to center to start the fifth inning, before moving to second on Ryan Wood's sacrifice bunt. Harrison Eldridge gave ECU the lead for good by lining a 2-1 pitch from Tulane (39-18) starter Sean Morgan into right field to score Dean who slid under a tag by Tulane catcher Ty Wallace.
Smith, who came into tourney play swinging a hot bat with a .560 average over his last seven games, extended the Pirates' cushion to 4-1 by drilling Morgan's first offering over the leftfield wall for his 13th homer and 65th RBI of the year - which ranks seventh all-time in the single-season ECU record books. Tulane opened the scoring in the bottom of the first, using a pair of a groundball hits and a Pirate error to jump out to a 1-0 lead. After Matt Riser's popup into short leftfield glanced off shortstop Dale Mollenhauer's glove, Cat Everett followed with a single through the right side. Warren McFadden, who earned C-USA Freshman-of-the-Year honors prior to the tourney, drove home Riser with a single up the middle that Taylor partially stopped with his foot but couldn't field. The Pirates quickly evened the contest in the top of the second, using a run-scoring single by Dean to score Ryan Tousley, who drew a one-out walk against Morgan. The Green Wave threatened in the fourth when Brad Emaus extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a one-out single to right before Tim Guidry walked to put runners of first and second. Taylor ended the rally however by getting Seth Henry to bounce into a double play. Tulane responded in its half of the fifth to trim the margin to 4-2 when Wallace's ripped his fourth round-tripper of the season to leftfield. Morgan (8-5) suffered the loss after surrendering all four runs while scattering seven hits and two walks in 121 pitches before being lifted in favor of reliever Stephen Porlier prior to the start of the ninth inning. In addition to Dean, Eldridge also tallied a pair of hits and perhaps saved three more runs defensively with two catches backed up against the rightfield fence. Tulane left a total of eight runners on base and were victimized by a pair of rally-ending Pirate double plays. ECU Post-Game Notes |
