ECU baseball

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on March 6, 2006 2:13 PM

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GREENVILLE -- Dale Mollenhauer drew a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the eleventh to give ECU a 4-3 win over Stony Brook and its first series sweep of the season Sunday afternoon at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

The Pirates, who trailed 3-2 heading into the bottom half of the eleventh, got things started when freshman Ryan Wood reached second on a throwing error. Jake Dean moved Wood over to third on a sac bunt just before Drew Schieber doubled to right field plating the tying run.

Harrison Eldridge got a free pass on an intentional walk and on the ensuing pitch to Ryan Tousley, promptly stole second on a double-steal with Schieber, placing runners on second and third. Centerfielder Jay Mattox grounded into a fielder's choice, setting up the bases-loaded walk for Mollenhauer.

ECU (11-3) collected seven hits on the day with Mollenhauer going 2-for-5 with one RBI and one run scored to lead the Pirates. Five other Pirates posted hits on the afternoon, highlighted by Schieber's eleventh-inning double and Jamie Ray's first hit of the season which came in the bottom of the third.

Starting pitcher Shane Mathews turned in his best pitching performance of the young season, recording a career-high nine strikeouts while giving up one unearned run on five hits in six innings of work. On the afternoon, five Pirate pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts and just two earned runs in 11 innings of work. Senior Carter Harrell posted his second win of the season, tossing the final 2/3 of an inning in the eleventh.