Pirates post big series win over Marshall with another ninth-inning rally

Jonathan Holt delivered the game-tying single in the ninth

For the third consecutive day, East Carolina started slowly against Marshall.

The Pirates trailed 4-1 through five after the Thundering Herd scored single runs in every inning after the first off ECU starter Seth Maness.

Maness, who allowed four runs on eight hits in five innings, was relieved by Shawn Armstrong.

Armstrong (3-1), a hard-throwing righty, limited the Herd to just one hit over the final four innings while striking out seven.

While Armstrong was putting up zeros, the silent Pirate bats began to heat up.

ECU cut its deficit to 4-2 in the sixth. Trent Whitehead delivered a one-out double and scored on a two-out double by freshman Ben Fultz.

Trailing 4-2 in the eighth, Corey Thompson reached on an infield single to third. Whitehead followed by taking a 1-2 offering the other way for a single to left to place runners on first and second with just one out. After clean-up hitter Zach Wright struck out on a high fastball, Fultz produced another clutch two-out hit with an rbi single to right field.

Chase McDonald led off the ninth with a single to center. Jack Reinheimer proceeded to lay down the sacrifice bunt to move McDonald into scoring position. Pinch-hitter Jonathan Holt, who has had a solid freshman season, took a 1-2 pitch back where it came from to make it 4-4. Then, Holt stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. With him 90 feet away, Philip Clark executed the squeeze to perfection to score Holt and give the Pirates the 5-4 advantage.

Whitehead, Fultz and McDonald all had two hits for East Carolina.

For the second time in three days, Marshall's bullpen was unable to seal the deal. The terrific performance of Thundering Herd starter Arik Sikula went for naught. Sikula allowed just three runs on six hits in 7.1 innings. He struck out 12 and didn't walk a batter.

Thor Meeks went 2-for-3 and was the only Marshall player to post a multi-hit game.

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