April 12, 2003

Box Score

Greenville, NC - East Carolina pitcher Davey Penny struck out 13 and gave up two runs, while scattering seven hits for a 3-2 complete game victory over the Memphis Tigers (11-22, 3-10 C-USA) Saturday in the Memphis-ECU Conference USA series opener at Harrington Field.

The Pirates (22-11-1, 9-4 C-USA) got on the board first in the home half of the second inning when designated hitter Adam Witter blasted a solo home run to straightaway centerfield of Memphis's freshman starter Stephen Gostkowski for a 1-0 Pirate advantage.

The Tigers evened the slate at one on three hits in the top of the fourth. Michael Lewis's one-out double to the rightfield corner got Memphis going. Lewis moved to third on a groundball to first by Chad House. Memphis RBI leader Kurt Welch came through with a single through the left side of the infield to score Lewis and tie the game.

ECU regained the lead in the fifth after shortstop Luke Cherry drew a leadoff walk and then advanced when Gostkowski's pickoff throw at first sailed wide of first baseman Kyle Sledd. Two pitches later ECU worked the squeeze play to perfection as Ben Sanderson punched a bunt down the first base side to score Cherry. Centerfielder Jamie Paige then singled and then advanced to third on another single by second baseman Mike DeJesus. Darryl Lawhorn put the Pirates ahead 2-1 with a sacrifice fly to left, plating Paige.

Memphis gained momentum in the bottom of the sixth when catcher John Poppert was caught stealing by Welch. On the play Witter, who was on third, attempted to score, but was thrown out at the plate by first baseman Kyle Sledd for the double play. Gostkowski then fanned Cherry to end the inning.

That momentum carried over the Memphis seventh as the fought back with a single tally when DH Ryan Martin and Sledd combined for back-to-back singles and Lewis registered and RBI single to right to score Martin. Chad House then drew a walk to load the bases, but the Tigers were unable to plate another run as they left all three runners stranded in the seventh.

Stephen Gostkowski (1-3) took the tough loss on the hill for Memphis after allowing three runs on six hits and four strikeouts in a career-high 6.0 innings. Zach Cook and Corey Kines came on in relief to pitch a scoreless seventh and eight innings to keep the game close.

Second baseman Michael Lewis paced the Tiger offense, which out hit ECU 7-6, finishing the afternoon 2-for-3 with a run scored. Ryan Martin also collected two and increased his season-high hitting streak to seven games with

Memphis will play Game two of the series tonight at 7 p.m. as the nightcap of the day-night doubleheader.