University of Louisville
at East Carolina *
Cardinal Nine Edged by #9 ECU
April 23, 2004 | Baseball
April 23, 2004
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Ninth ranked East Carolina edged the University of Louisville 6-4 in the series opener Friday night at Harrington Field. The Pirates have now won 14 straight.
ECU(33-6, 13-3) took a 2-0 lead in the third on RBI singles by Billy Richardson and Trevor Lawhorn.
Louisville freshman Isaiah Howes tripled with one out in the fourth, and was driven in by fellow freshman Logan Johnson on a ground ball to the right side to cut the lead in half.
Senior Mark Jurich lead off the fifth with a solo home run to right, his 10th on the season, to knot the game at two.
ECU third baseman Mark Minicozzi singled home a run in the sixth to break the tie and a two-run single by Ryan Jones extended the lead to 5-2 Pirates.
Chris Cates singled to open the seventh, and an out later, junior Ryan McKinnon belted his sixth home run of the season on a line to center to cut the lead to one.
Jones singled home an insurance run in the eighth to close the scoring.
ECU reliever Matt Bishop (3-0) tossed 3.1 innings of relief, allowing two runs on three hits, striking out five to get the win.
Cardinal starter Justin Valdes(4-4) took the loss, hurling six innings, surrendering five runs on 10 hits and two walks. He struck out five.
Skylar Meade lasted two-thirds of an inning, allowing two walks and a single. Brian Halford worked the final 1.1 innings, and gave up a run on two hits and a walk, striking out two.
Cates and Ron Braun were the only two Cards(20-18, 8-8) with multi-hit games.
These two teams will face each other for game two of the series on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. ET for game two of the series.
