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Baseball Advances at C-USA Championship with Win over No. 28 ECU
May 23, 2008
Complete Houston-East Carolina Game Book (May 23, 2008) in PDF Format NEW ORLEANS - Freshman DH Caleb Ramsey's two-out, RBI-single in the sixth inning broke a 1-1 tie, and freshman closer Chase Dempsay made the lead stand up the rest of the way as the University of Houston baseball team grabbed a 2-1 win over No. 28 and fifth-seeded East Carolina on Friday to close out the third day of the 2008 Entergy Conference USA Championship, hosted by Tulane at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. East Carolina seized the momentum from the beginning when leadoff batter Harrison Eldridge blasted a home run over the center-field wall. However, that would be the last run the Pirates would score the rest of the way. Senior starter Bryan Tully allowed only two more hits and two walks with three strikeouts over the next 5.1 innings to collect the win and improve to 5-3. Entering the game in the sixth inning with a runner on second, Dempsay was the beneficiary of an ECU baserunning mistake for one out and forced Stephen Batts to fly out to end the rally. The Pirates had their best chance to score in the ninth inning after the Baytown native hit Brandon Henderson with a pitch and walked Corey Kemp. Facing a sacrifice situation, Dempsay fielded the bunt attempt from Batts and fired to senior third baseman Bryan Pounds for the first out of the final frame. He then struck out Ryan Wood looking and Kyle Roller to end the threat and the game. Dempsay collected his team-leading 11th save of the season to move into sole possession of third place in UH single-season history. Jimmy Cesario went 2-for-3 with a run and two walks, while Ramsey finished the night 2-for-4 with an RBI. Pounds also went 2-for-5 as the Cougars outhit ECU 8-4. ECU starter Sthil Sowers allowed two runs off six hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings to pick up the loss and fall to 4-4. With the win, the Cougars improved to 36-22 overall and won for the fourth time in five games against the Pirates, who were ranked at No. 12 in the latest RPI standings on BoydsWorld.com. UH now will face UAB at 12:30 p.m., Saturday. If the Cougars win that game, they meet UAB again at 7:30 p.m., Saturday with the winner advancing to the C-USA Championship game. Fans can hear all Cougar Baseball games live at UHCougars.com by clicking the appropriate links. Jeremy Branham will call the play-by-play action while former letterwinner Pat Cauley provides color analysis. Fans always can follow live stats by clicking on the Gametracker link. Following Eldridge's home run, the two teams battled to a draw until the sixth inning when the Cougars struck for two runs. Cesario drew a leadoff walk and moved into scoring position following Ryan Lormand's sacrifice bunt. Zak Presley then lined a triple to the wall in left center to tie the game. Tully reached on a walk and Chris Wallace reached on a fielder's choice when Presley was thrown out at home following a bunt attempt. Ramsey then lined a single into center field, scoring Tully for a 2-1 Cougar lead.
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