East Carolina Downs NC State 2-1 In A Marathon

Wednesday, April 12

Greenville, N.C.

7:00 PM

NC State

27-10

East Carolina

22-13

NC State

East Carolina

4/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 12, 2006

Final Stats

GREENVILLE, N.C. - Jamie Ray's two-out single up the middle scored pinch-runner Stephen Batts with the winning run in the bottom of the 13th inning Wednesday night as East Carolina edged past NC State 2-1 at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

The win for the Pirates snapped NC State's winning streak in midweek games at 19, a streak that dated back to the 2004 season. East Carolina improved to 22-13, while the Wolfpack fell to 27-10.

Shane Mathews (4-2) got the win for the Pirates after working a scoreless top of the 13th inning. He allowed one hit and struck out two. NC State reliever Joey Cutler (0-1), the last of seven NC State pitchers used in the game, was the tough-luck loser. Cutler, who came into the game with the bases loaded and just one out in the bottom of the 11th, deserved better. He was charged with one run on two hits in 2 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out one.

Pitching dominated the game throughout, and that began from the outset with starters T.J. Hose and Gib Hobson. The Wolfpack had a pair of early opportunities against Hose, but could not cash them in. Bobby Hubbard led off the top of the third with a single up the middle and went to second on Matt Camp's single to right, but Hose wriggled off the hook by getting Aaron Cone to ground into an inning-ending double play. Hose hit Aaron Bates with a 1-2 pitch leading off the top of the fourth, but caught a break when Brian Aragon's screaming line drive was right at first baseman Adam Witter, who easily doubled Bates off first base.

Witter broke the scoreless tie with a one-out solo homer in the bottom of the fourth, his sixth long ball of the season, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead. The Wolfpack tied the game in the top of the sixth. Camp reached on a one-out infield single, went to second on Cone's grounder to second and scored on Bates' RBI single up the middle.

Other than the homer by Witter, Hobson was threatened only once, in the bottom of the first. Harrison Eldridge led off with a single to center that Camp booted for an error, allowing Eldridge to reach second. Dale Mollenhauer bunted Eldridge to third, but Eldridge was cut down at the plate when he tried to score on Jake Smith's one-hopper to third base. Hobson retired 13 of the next 16 men he faced before giving way to Jason Duncan to start the bottom of the sixth. Hobson allowed just the one run on three hits. He walked one and fanned two. Duncan retired eight of the 10 men he faced, giving way to Kyle Rutter with two down in the bottom of the eighth. Rutter faced on man, Smith, and retired him on a fly ball to center field.

Hose, meanwhile, turned in the second longest outing of his career, working 8 2/3 innings and allowing just the one run on six hits. He walked one and struck out two. Jason Neitz got the final out in the top of the ninth, then cruised through the 10th, 11th and 12th before giving way to Matthews to start the top of the 13th.

The Wolfpack dodged a serious bullet in the bottom of the 11th. Mollenhauer led off the inning with a walk. Chris Engle, who came on to start the inning for the Pack, struck out Smith, then walked Witter to put runners at first and second. Travis High replaced Engle, and Mollenhauer stole third to make it first and third. High walked Wood to load the bases with one down. Cutler replaced High and retired Jamie Ray on an infield pop-up and Jay Mattox on a grounder to third base to end the threat.

With one down in the bottom of the 13th, Ryan Pond reached over the left-field fence and into The Jungle to rob Smith of what would have been a game-winning homer, but Pond's heroics were trumped over the next three at-bats. Witter walked and Wood beat out a hotly disputed single to shortstop to put runners on first and second. The disputed hit extended Woods' hitting streak to nine games. Batts pinch-ran for Witter, and Ray then drove his game-winning single up the middle.

NC State will return to action this weekend with a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series at Maryland. Game times are 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 1 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and on-line at gopack.com.