May 18, 2006

Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -

Memphis-ECU Boxscore in PDF Format
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East Carolina (32-22, 10-12 C-USA)     030 002 001 - 6 17 0
Memphis (28-26, 11-11 C-USA)     	  001 020 114 - 9 16 2

A game after losing to #18 Ole Miss in a dramatic ninth-inning rally, it was the University of Memphis' turn to create late-game heroics as junior designated hitter Joey Lieberman lined a one-out, walk-off grand slam over the leftfield wall to give the Tigers a 9-6 win over East Carolina in the series opening contest on Thursday evening.

Lieberman capped the gutsy Tiger comeback with his team-leading 13th home run of the year--one of four U of M round-trippers on the night. He followed a rally that saw Bill Moss, Adam Amar and Kyle Norrid all reach on one-out singles.

ECU took a one-run lead in the top of the ninth after Harrison Eldridge hit what looked to be a groundout to Amar at first, but turned into a double when the ball hit the bag and hopped down the rightfield line. He came around to score on an RBI-single to leftcenter by Adam Witter.

The Tiger comeback started after the Pirates posted three runs in the top of the third inning. Cory Barton put Memphis on the board, 3-1, with his third homer of the year. Will Petersen knotted the tilt at 3-3 with a long two-run drive over the centerfield wall.

ECU answered with a pair in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Eldridge followed by an RBI-double by Dale Mollenhauer.

An infield single by Moss scored Ben Grisham to cut the Tiger's deficit to one run at 5-4. Memphis again evened the slate in the eighth on a solo home run by Kyle Norrid. Norrid finished the night with three hits and two runs scored.

Dusty Davis was the winning pitcher after striking out a career-high seven in five innings of relief.

Moss led the team with four hits, while Chalmers and Grisham also collected two hits each.

ECU reliever Jason Neitz took the loss. The four runs scored on the grand slam were all the Pirate lefty allowed. Starter Brody Taylor was solid in seven innings, striking out five and scattering 10 hits.

Memphis and ECU will meet again tomorrow with the first pitch set for 2 p.m. Listen live to "The Voice of Tiger Baseball" Jeff Brightwell as he calls the play-by-play action on WUMR FM 91.7. Pre-game coverage begins at 1:45 p.m.