May 5, 2007

Final Stats

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HOUSTON - East Carolina outfielder Jamie Ray blasted a grand-slam in the top of the ninth to help lead the Pirates to a 6-3 win over the University of Houston baseball team Saturday night in the middle game of a Conference USA series at Cougar Field.

The Cougars appeared to grab the game's momentum in the seventh inning after taking a 2-1 lead on a fluky play. Ryan Lormand started the Cougars' two-out rally with a single through the right side and moved up a base after Bryan Tully drew a walk. Both runners combined on a double steal to move to second and third.

With a base open, ECU head coach Billy Godwin opted to intentionally walk Jimmy Cesario, but the third ball to the Cougar slugger got past catcher David Forbes and rolled to the backstop, allowing Lormand to score and give the Cougars their first lead of the series.

The score remained that way until the ninth inning. Stephen Batts led off with a walk and moved to second following Corey Kemp's walk. After pinch hitter Brandon Henderson moved both runners up a base with a sacrifice bunt, UH head coach Rayner Noble opted to intentionally pass pinch hitter Jake Dean to load the bases and set up a force out at any base.

However, Jamie Ray blasted the first pitch he saw over the left-field wall. Two batters later, Harrison Eldridge launched a solo homer over the right-field wall for a 6-2 ECU lead.

The Cougars mounted a small rally in the bottom of the ninth. Dustin Kingsbury reached on an infield single and, after going on the pitch, scored all the way from first base when Josh Stirneman's RBI-single to right field rolled all the way to the corner. However, that would be as close as the Cougars would get the rest of the way.

Cesario went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks, while Kingsbury finished the night 2-for-5 with a run and RBI to lead the Cougar offense, which outhit East Carolina 9-8. Stirneman also batted 2-for-5 with an RBI in the losing effort.

Eldridge went 3-for-5 with a solo home run, while Ryan Tousley batted 2-for-4 with a run and stolen base for East Carolina.

ECU reliever Josh Ruhlman picked up the win and improved to 4-0 despite allowing a run off two hits and two walks in two innings. UH reliever Chris Wright collected the loss and fell to 3-2 after surrendering five runs off three hits and two walks in one inning of work.

With the loss, the Cougars dropped to 25-21 overall, 10-7 in C-USA games, and fell into a tie with Memphis for second place in the latest C-USA standings. East Carolina improved to 31-15 overall, 9-7 in C-USA games, and stood just a half-game back of the Pirates and the Cougars in fourth place.

The Cougars wrap up the series at noon, Sunday, at Cougar Field. Fans can hear Cougar Baseball games live on UHCougars.com with former Cougar letterwinners Nick Torina and Pat Cauley calling all the action. Fans can follow live stats by clicking on the "Gametracker" link on the front page of UHCougars.com or on the Schedule and Results page off the Baseball main page.

Fans always can follow live stats by clicking on the "Gametracker" link on the front page of UHCougars.com or on the "Schedule and Results" page off the Baseball main page.

Freshman righthander John Touchton makes his seventh start when he takes the hill at Conference USA rival East Carolina during the series finale. This season, the Houston native has compiled a 4-4 record with 24 strikeouts and a 6.70 ERA in 43.0 innings.

Sunday's game will be his fifth consecutive C-USA start.

In his last start, Touchton collected the loss after allowing three runs off seven hits and two walks in four innings during the series finale at C-USA rival Marshall on April 29.

Sunday's game will be Touchton's first career appearance against the Pirates.

ECU is scheduled to start sophomore righthander Josh Dowdy. This season, Dowdy has posted a 2-1 record with 25 strikeout and a team-best 2.36 ERA in 49.2 innings.

The Cougars struck for the game's first run in the third inning after three straight hits. Bryan Tully started the rally with a single through the right side, and Cesario followed with a single to right field. Kingsbury then lined a 3-2 offering into right center to plate Tully for a 1-0 Cougar lead.

The lead would not last long as Kyle Roller's two-out, RBI-triple to left center in the next half inning knotted the game at 1-1.