March 4, 2011
Box Score
Pepperdine and East Carolina Box Score (March 4, 2011) 
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Pepperdine starting pitcher Aaron Gates delivered a quality start Friday at East Carolina, giving up two runs through seven innings, but his counterpart Seth Maness twirled an absolute gem for the Pirates, striking out 11 to post a complete-game 2-0 victory.
The pitchers' combined efforts resulted in Pepperdine's quickest game of the year at one hour and 45 minutes.
The loss dropped the Waves' season record to 4-5, while the Pirates improved to 6-2. The two teams will next play a doubleheader Saturday starting at 11 a.m. PT since thunderstorms are forecast throughout Sunday.
Only four Waves reached base against Maness, and it wasn't until the ninth inning with two outs that Pepperdine was able to get two on board at first and second. But that late-game mini-rally was extinguished after Maness got Brian Humphries (El Cajon, Calif./Granite Hills HS) to end the game on a ground out.
Junior catcher Nate Johnson (Camarillo, Calif./Camarillo HS) recorded the Waves' first hit wit a double in the second, then Harrison Kain (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Thousand Oaks HS) reached on a hit by pitch in the fourth before Maness found his groove and retired 18 straight.
Chris Amezquita (La Mirada, Calif./Servite HS) ended Maness' bid for a one-hitter with a two-out single to left in the ninth, and Zach Vincej (Saugus, Calif./Saugus HS) followed with a walk, which was the lone free pass issued by Maness.
Gates (Villa Park, Calif./Orange Lutheran HS) walked six and it was his second-inning leadoff base on balls to Zach Wright that led to the Pirates' first run. After Gates struck out Philip Clark for the frame's first out, ECU received back-to-back hits from Chris Gosik and Mike Ussery, the second of which plate Wright.
Gosik struck again in the fourth with a solo home run over the wall in left.
Gates allowed just four more runners to reach base over the next 3.2 innings before being lifted in favor of freshman Michael Swanner (Cardiff, Calif./La Costa Canyon HS) to start eighth.
Swanner struck out one and allowed a hit in his lone inning of work.
East Carolina 2, Pepperdine 0 (Mar 04, 2011 at Greenville, N.C.)
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Pepperdine.......... 000 000 000 - 0 2 0 (4-5)
East Carolina....... 010 100 00X - 2 7 0 (6-2)
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Pitchers: Pepperdine - Gates, Aaron; SWANNER, Michael(8) and Johnson, Nate. East Carolina -
MANESS and WRIGHT, Z..
Win-MANESS(2-1) Loss-GATES, Aaron(0-2) T-1:45 A-2727
HR ECU - GOSIK (1).
