Eldridge, Pirates steal one

ECU ties it in the ninth before winning it in the 10th

GREENVILLE -- The East Carolina baseball team pulled off a larcenous Pirates' act Thursday night.

The Pirates stole a ballgame from Southern Mississippi.

It happened in the bottom of the 10th inning when speedy Harrison Eldridge broke from third base and was credited with stealing home, a dare-devilish sprint that gave the Pirates a 2-1 Conference USA baseball tournament victory.

On Wednesday night, Eldridge had slammed a three-run homer to spark a 4-2 comeback win over Tulane.

But Thursday, the power wasn't present, so the Pirates kept probing, trying to find some way to win.

Eldridge started the rally with a one-out single and wound up at third after a wild pitch and two walks. Then coach Billy Godwin called a squeeze play on the second pitch by Southern Miss' Tyler Conn.

"He just threw the ball and I took off. Luckily, the ball got past [the catcher]," said Eldridge, who scored standing up and then was swarmed by teammates.

So maybe these resilient Pirates suddenly have more than momentum. Maybe they've got the guts and the game to make a run at the tourney title.

After winning their first two games at Clark-LeClair Stadium, they get a day off today, then play again at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in the double-elimination event. The Pirates need just one more victory to reach Sunday's championship game.

"We've still got work to do,'' Godwin said. "We didn't come here to win two games. We came here to win this tournament."

With their second straight late-game rally, the Pirates turned a superb pitching performance by Southern Miss starter Barry Bowden into a footnote.

The crafty right-hander baffled ECU batters with a repertoire that included a tricky changeup and extended his shutout streak to 17 innings before departing with a 1-0 lead after eight innings.

Jody Blount's 375-foot home run in the sixth had given the Eagles an edge that looked as if it might stand up.

East Carolina starter Dustin Sasser also produced stellar work on the mound, and Bailey Daniels, Jason Neitz and Shane Matthews were solid in relief.

"We had to do what we had to do to stay in the game, and those guys did another great job,'' Godwin said.

As for the hitting, East Carolina belted lots of long flies that translated into loud outs.

But Stephen Batts extended his hitting streak to 24 games with a single and a double.

The Pirates, exhorted by a rabid crowd, seemed doomed going into the ninth. But they tied the score 1-1 on a sacrifice fly by Jamie Ray.

This came after ECU had squandered a golden scoring opportunity in the eighth on a bizarre double play that saw both Jake Dean and Matt Mollenhauer get caught in rundowns.

But then they found a way to squeeze out another win -- or rather steal one.