Spring Break
ECU clinches C-USA title with sweep of Memphis
Hart Holloman
Issue date: 5/20/09 Section: Sports
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The Pirates (41-15, 17-7), will be the top seed in the conference tournament, which is set to begin Wednesday. They beat out last year's C-USA champion Rice when the Owls were defeated in a comeback win by UAB Saturday, after the Pirates had clinched at least a share of the crown earlier in the day.
Senior Brandon Henderson's walk-off two-run homer clinched the Pirates dominating sweep of conference cellar dwellers Memphis (21-32, 7-16) in style and capped a weekend that saw the pirates outscore the Tigers 31-7 over the three game stretch.
After Saturday's clinching 13-2 victory, Coach Billy Godwin praised the team for what they had achieved.
"I can't say enough about this group of guys," said Godwin. "I've been saying it since the beginning that this was probably the most talented squad I've had and they got it done. They worked hard for this and we're going to enjoy it."
Game one of the series on Thursday saw the Tigers jump out to an early 4-0 lead in the first six innings of the game. ECU starting pitcher Chris Heston surrendered two runs in the first inning and one apiece in both the second and fifth innings while scattering seven hits. He also struck out seven Tiger batters.
But, the Pirate's bats came alive in the seventh and sophomore Trent Whitehead's three run blast tied the game at four apiece. But that would only last an inning as in the eighth ECU put five runs on the board that would be more than enough to clinch a 9-4 victory.
Whitehead had a team high of four hits and four RBI's for the Pirates while Dustin Harrington added three hits, including a dinger. Kevin Brandt pitched a scoreless seventh and Seth Simmons registered his third win of the season, shutting out the Tigers in the eighth and ninth to seal the win for the Pirates.
Friday's game was Senior Day for the Pirates and they didn't disappoint. Seth Maness stretched his season record to a perfect 9-0 while scattering six hits in seven innings, striking out nine and only surrendering one run -- a solo shot off the bat of Memphis' Adam McClain that hit the Taco Bell sign in right field.
However, the Pirate hitters had his back. Stephen Batts, Drew Scheiber, and Henderson all hit home runs as the Pirates put up eight runs in the first two innings to jump out to a commanding 8-1 lead, which would hold to the end. Ryan Wood added three hits and two runs and Whitehead scored three runs on two hits as the Pirates cruised to the easy victory.
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