No. 27 East Carolina hammers Houston, 10-3

Pirates pound out 14 hits in series opener

Following his shortest start of the season, you had a feeling Kevin Brandt would bounce back with a strong outing against Houston.

The senior southpaw did just that as he worked eight shutout innings and led No. 27 East Carolina past visiting Houston, 10-3, in the series opener on Thursday night at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

The Pirates (21-8, 5-2), who won their fifth straight, took an early 4-0 lead when they did some two-out damage in the second. After leading off the inning with a single, Zach Wright advanced to second when Chase McDonald grounded out to second. However, he remained there until Ben Fultz delivered a single back through the box on an 0-2 count to produce the game's first run. Fultz proceeded to steal second and was plated when Tim Younger singled. Bryan Bass reached on an error before Corey Thompson doubled down the right field line to extend the ECU advantage to 4-0.

After allowing a single in each of the first two innings, Brandt began to have his way with the Cougars' line-up as he allowed just one baserunner--a one out walk in the third--over the next four innings.

As Houston starter Jared Ray's pitch count began to get up, East Carolina exploded for a six-spot in the fifth to blow the game wide open. They did so without the benefit of an extra-base hit. Reynolds, Cannon, Wright, McDonald, and Reinheimer delivered consecutive singles to open the inning. Trailing 6-0, the Cougars opted to leave Ray in and he proceeded to walk three consecutive batters to increase the lead to 9-0 before a sac fly by Corey Thompson gave ECU its final run.

The Cougars (11-17, 1-6) avoided the shutout by plating three runs on four hits against Pirate reliever DeShorn Lake in the ninth. After allowing an infield single to Zack Gibson, Lake got Jensen to ground into a 5-4-3 double play. However, with two outs and one on, Tim Younger--who had shifted from second to shortstop--committed a throwing error that opened the door for the two-out damage. Price Jacobs recorded a run-scoring single before Cory Kay delivered a two-run double.

Brandt, who improved to 4-2, surrendered just four hits over his eight innings. The lefty struck out six while walking just one.

Eight of the nine starters in East Carolina's line-up recorded at least one hit and four posted multi-hit games. Younger, Wright, McDonald, and Fultz all had two hits each. Corey Thompson, who had one hit, drove in three runs.

Ray, who fell to 1-4, allowed nine runs--seven earned--on ten hits in four-plus innings of work.

The Pirates and Cougars will continue their three-game series on Friday night at Clark-LeClair Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.