No. 25 Pirates, Maness post 4-0 shutout of No. 21 Southern Miss

Senior righthander strikes out nine in complete game

East Carolina all-time wins leader Seth Maness turned in a stellar three-hit, complete game shutout and the No. 25 Pirates captured a 4-0 victory over No. 21 Southern Miss in the final game of pod play at the CUSA Championship on Friday at Trustmark Park in Pearl, MS.

Following four scoreless frames, ECU (39-19) pushed across two in the fifth via three straight hits.  Michael Ussery started things with a one-out single before coming around to score on Philip Clark's double down the left field line.  Corey Thompson proceeded to single to right center to plate Clark and make it 2-0.

The Pirates extended their lead to 3-0 in the seventh.  John Wooten led off with a single and was bunted into scoring position by Jack Reinheimer.  He advanced to third on Michael Ussery's groundout to shortstop before scoring on a Philip Clark single.

ECU got its final run in the eighth.  Freshman Ben Fultz struck out swinging with two outs, but reached on a wild pitch.  Fellow freshman Chase McDonald made the Golden Eagles pay as he doubled to right center to produce the 4-0 final.

Philip Clark led East Carolina with his 3-for-5, two-rbi performance.  Thompson, Fultz and McDonald all had two hits for the Pirates, who had 11 hits in the game.

Maness, who struck out nine and walked just one, improved to 9-3.

Josh Thomason (2-2) suffered the loss for Southern Miss after allowing three runs--all earned--on ten hits in seven innings.

Justin Diliberto had two of the Golden Eagles' three hits.

Southern Miss and East Carolina will now head home to await their destinations for next weekend's NCAA regionals.

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