Duke Falls To East Carolina, 19-5

Tuesday, February 21

Greenville, NC

3:00 PM

Duke University

East Carolina

Duke Falls To East Carolina, 19-5

2/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

GREENVILLE, N.C. ? Right fielder Ryan Tousley's two-run homer capped a four-run fourth inning for the East Carolina Pirates as they defeated the Duke Blue Devils, 19-5, on Tuesday afternoon at Clark-LeClair Stadium. The Blue Devils fall to 2-4 on the season while the Pirates improve to 5-2.

Leading 5-2 heading into the bottom of the fourth, shortstop Dale Mollenhauer led off the inning with a single to right field. After Mollenhauer advanced to second on a groundout, catcher Jake Smith laced an RBI-double to right center. First baseman Adam Witter followed with an RBI-double of his own, scoring Smith to give the Pirates a 7-2 advantage. Tousley then capped the four-run inning with his two-run blast over the right field wall.

ECU used a four-run third inning to take the 5-2 lead. Trailing 2-1 entering the bottom half of the frame, center fielder Jay Mattox hit a one-out double to right center to give the Pirates a runner in scoring position. After Smith reached on a fielder's choice, Witter laced an RBI-double off the right field wall, scoring Mattox to tie the game at 2-2. Tousley followed with a sacrifice fly to center to score Smith, giving ECU a 3-2 lead.

Left fielder Stephen Batts then hit an RBI-double down the left field line to score Witter, giving the Pirates a two-run lead. ECU scored the final run of the third when designated hitter Adam Hodges' grounder went off first baseman Jonathan Anderson's glove, allowing Batts to score from second.

ECU took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first after Mollenhauer led off the inning with a double over the head of Duke center fielder Jimmy Gallagher. Mattox followed with a single through the left side to give the home team runners on the corners. Smith then hit a ground ball to shortstop and Brett Bartles' throw to second pulled second baseman Adam Murray off the bag, allowing Mattox to reach second and Mollenhauer to score the game's first run.

The Blue Devils took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second. Third baseman Jonathan Nicolla led off the inning with a single and then advanced to second base when designated hitter Ron Causey singled through the left side. Nicolla advanced to third and Causey to second when Pirates starter Mike Flye slipped while fielding a bunt from left fielder Javier Socorro. With the bases loaded, Nicolla scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1. Murray followed with a groundout to shortstop that scored Causey to give Duke a one-run lead.

Duke right fielder Tim Sherlock hit his first career home run in the top of the fifth inning, a solo shot to right for the Blue Devils' third run of the game.

The Pirates then added three runs in the bottom half of the fifth and six runs in the sixth inning for an 18-3 lead.

The Blue Devils started the top of the seventh with three straight singles, capped off by an RBI-single from Nicolla. Socorro added a one-out RBI-single to right, scoring sophomore Kyle Kreick from third.

ECU scored their final run of the game in the eighth for the 19-5 victory.

Pirates reliever Scott Andrews (1-0) picked up his first win of the season, holding the Blue Devils to one run on four hits in 3.0 innings of work. Duke starter Tony Bajoczky (0-3) suffered his third loss of the year, allowing seven earned runs on nine hits in 3.1 innings pitched.

Bartles matched his career high with four hits on the day, going 4-for-5 at the plate. Sherlock, Nicolla, Causey and Socorro added two hits apiece for the Blue Devils.

Mollenhauer, Smith and Witter each collected three hits while Mattox and Tousley had two hits apiece in the win. Smith and Tousley both recorded five RBI for the Pirates.

Duke will host Elon on Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Jack Coombs Field before hosting Radford for a three-game series over the weekend. Friday's first pitch is slated for 3 p.m. while Saturday and Sunday's games will start at 1 p.m.

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