Top-Seeded Rice Eliminated by ECU, 4-3 at C-USA Baseball Championship
May 22, 2008
East Carolina scored once in the fifth inning and three times in the sixth to rally and defeat number one seed Rice, 4-3 in the first elimination game on day two of the 2008 Entergy C-USA Baseball Championship being hosted by Tulane University. Rice is the first No. 1 seed in C-USA history to lose its first two games. The Owls opened the scoring in the second inning. Aaron Luna drew a lead-off walk and then Adam Zornes homered to left-center to give Rice a 2-0 lead. Rice (42-13) extended the lead to 3-0 in the third inning. Again, the Owls drew a lead-off walk, as Doug Simmons earned a free pass. Jared Gayheart singled through the right side, advancing Simmons to third. J.P. Padron then grounded into a double play, but Simmons scored to make it 3-0. East Carolina (40-18) dented the scoreboard in the fifth inning when Kyle Roller homered to centerfield. It was the second straight game that Roller has gone deep. Pirate catcher Corey Kemp started the sixth inning with a lead-off homer to dead center and left fielder Stephen Batts followed with a single. Following a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Wood, Dustin Harrington tied the game with a single up the middle. From there, Rice head coach Wayne Graham lifted starter Ryan Berry in favor of second-team All C-USA reliever Cole St. Clair, but the Pirates kept the pressure on as Roller singled to up the middle to put runners on the corners. St. Clair nearly pitched his way out of the jam with a strikeout for the second out of the inning, but ECU centerfielder Harrison Eldridge came through with a single through the left side of the infield to put the Pirates on top for good. Pirate reliever T.J. Hose struck out five in 4.1 scoreless innings and Josh Ruhlman retired the final two batters of the game to seal the victory. Hose (6-4) walked four during his time on the hill, but did not allow a hit to the 13 Rice players who drew an official at-bat. Ruhlman, meanwhile, picked up his second save of the 2008 season. Berry (7-4) was tagged with the loss after allowing four runs on six hits and three walks while striking out four in 5.1 frames. The game was delayed for 48 minutes in the top of the eighth inning due to lightning in the area. Rice's loss marked the first time that the Owls went 0-2 in a conference tournament since the 1995 SWC Tourney. East Carolina advances to face the loser of today's Houston-UAB game at 3:00 p.m. CT on Friday.
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