Pirates dominate Deacs, 9-0

East Carolina pounds out 16 hits in victory

Zach Woods turned in six strong innings and the Pirates pounded out 16 hits en route to a 9-0 win over Wake Forest on Wednesday night in Zebulon (NC).

After stranding two in the first, East Carolina (31-17) took a 2-0 lead in the second by doing some two-out damage. Jack Reinheimer started things by drawing a walk. Mike Ussery followed with a single before Philip Clark was issued a base on balls to load the bases. Corey Thompson, who had already doubled in the first inning, proceeded to deliver a two-run single.

Woods, who was making his first start in a month after battling an arm injury, allowed a pair of singles in the second. However, after escaping that threat, the veteran righty had it on cruise control. He surrendered just four hits in six innings, struck out four and walked just a pair.

The Pirates carried that 2-0 advantage into the bottom of the fourth when the game was delayed for approximately 15 minutes by a power outage at Five County Stadium.

Following the delay, East Carolina turned the lights out on the Deacs, as it plated five runs on six consecutive hits during the fifth inning.

With the bases loaded, Mike Ussery and Philip Clark came through with run-scoring singles. Thompson made it 6-0 when he plated two with his second double of the evening. Trent Whitehead extended the advantage to 7-0 on a single to left.

Thompson and Whitehead led the Pirates with their three-hit performances. Thompson finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and four RBI.

Clark, McDonald, Wright and Ussery were others with two-hit games for East Carolina. Wright, like Thompson, had a pair of doubles.

After removing Woods from the game, ECU coach Billy Godwin took advantage of the opportunity to get his bullpen some work. Brad Mincey threw a hitless seventh before Shawn Armstrong and Seth Simmons came on to get an inning of work themselves. Armstrong allowed two hits and struck out two. Simmons, who has struggled of late, surrendered a leadoff double, but retired the next three batters in order while striking out two in the process.

Wake Forest starter Zach White took the loss to fall to 2-5. White, who allowed two runs on five hits in 3.1 innings, walked four.

The Demon Deacons (20-27) used nine pitchers in the game.

Lloyd was the only Deacon to record a multi-hit performance.

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