Feb. 22, 2012
NORFOLK, Va. – In a back-and-forth affair early, Old Dominion tied the game in the bottom of the fifth when a run scored on a wild pitch but three home runs in the game and a four-run ninth inning allowed East Carolina to pull away late for a 10-4 win on Wednesday afternoon at the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex.
East Carolina (4-0) struck first with a solo homer in the top of the first off ODU start C.J. Huyett when Corey Thompson went deep to right field. Old Dominion (2-2) would tie the game in the bottom of the second off ECU starter Joseph Hughes when Chris Baker, who led off the inning with a base hit, eventually came around to score when the Monarchs grounded into a double play.
A leadoff triple by Ben Fultz in the top of the third eventually led to a run for the Pirates but Josh Wright knocked a two-run homer, his second of the season, off the top of the left field fence in the bottom of the frame to give the Monarchs their only lead of the game.
A two-run homer by Jack Reinheimer in the top of the fifth would chase Huyett from the game and give ECU back the lead. Wright, who went 2-for-4 on the day with a pair of RBI and runs scored, hit a ground-rule double in the bottom of the fifth and eventually came around to score to tie the game after stealing third and a wild pitch.
The Pirates took the lead for good in the top of the sixth when John Wooten hit a two-run shot off ODU reliever Erick Baker (1-1) to make it 6-4. The Monarchs were unable to make headway against ECU reliever Andy Smithmyer (1-0) who tossed 3.0 innings in middle relief for the win, allowing just one run.
ODU relievers Kevin Griffey, Greg Tomchick and Dean Ali were able to keep the ECU offense at bay before the Pirates came alive and took advantage of Monarch miscues in the top of the ninth off Brandon Smith. ECU was able to bat around taking advantage of an ODU errors and piece together five hits to score four runs to pull away for a 10-4 win.
The Monarchs threatened in the bottom of the ninth when ECU reliever D.J. Jauss walked two ODU batters and hit another but he got a strikeout and a groundout to escape the threat and preserve the win for ECU.
ODU begins a three-game set with Rutgers this weekend on Friday at the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.