East Carolina University
VCU
ECU Drops Series Opener To VCU, 4-3
March 20, 2015 | Baseball
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Alex Gransback's pinch-hit RBI fielder's choice in the ninth inning gave Virginia Commonwealth a 4-3 lead and Daniel Concepcion retired East Carolina in order in the bottom half of the ninth to help the Rams secure a 4-3 series opening win Friday night at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium.
The Rams (10-9) extended their win streak to five games over the Pirates (15-7) in the series dating back to 2012.
Matt Lees (3-0) picked up another win out of the Rams bullpen tossing 2.1 perfect frames with a pair of strikeouts. The left-hander has not allowed an earned run in 10 appearances (15.0 innings) and has 17 strikeouts to just three walks. Daniel Concepcion notched his third save of the season working a quick ninth in which he retired the side in order via a strikeout and a pair of fly outs. Starter JoJo Howie allowed three runs (all earned) on seven hits with two punch-outs in 5.2 innings of work.
Jimmy Boyd (2-4) took the loss in relief surrendering the game-winner in the top of the ninth frame. The right-hander went 2.0 frames striking out three and allowing one hits. Starter Evan Kruczynski gave up three runs (all earned) on eight hits with four strikeouts and a pair of walks in 6.1 innings. Reid Love made his eighth appearance in relief facing three batters in two-thirds of an inning.
Averaging over 15 hits a game over its last seven outings, ECU managed just seven on the night getting a pair from Eric Tyler. Travis Watkins extended his hit streak to 13 games with a single in the sixth, while Luke Lowery pushed his streak to six games with a double in the same frame. Tyler drove in all three Pirate runs establishing a new career-high.
UP NEXT:
ECU and VCU will continue the three-game non-conference series Saturday afternoon with a 4 p.m. (ET) scheduled first pitch.
How It Happened:
In a three-all game in the ninth inning, Cody Acker laced a leadoff triple down the right field line just out of the reach of a diving Tyler at first base. With the Pirate infield in and Love coming out of the bullpen, VCU elected to go with the righty-left matchup and brought in Alex Gransback off the bench to hit for Daane Berezo. Love did his job and got a ground ball to Yorgen, who threw home to Watkins, but Acker was able to slide under the swiping tag for a 4-3 advantage.
Concepcion entered the game for the Rams in the bottom of the ninth retiring Garrett Brooks (strikeout), Watkins (fly out) and Kirk Morgan (fly out) to seal the win.
VCU jumped out to a 1-0 lead thanks to Matt Davis' RBI sac fly that scored James Bunn, who stroked a one-out triple down the right field line.
The Pirates knotted the game at one-all in the fourth on Tyler's RBI single to center easily scoring Parker Lamm second. Lamm led off the frame with a single up the middle and moved to second on Yorgen's base knock to center.
Davis pushed the Rams back in front in the sixth with a solo shot to left field, his second of the year.
ECU took its first lead of the night, 3-2, in the bottom half of the sixth when Tyler singled up the middle scoring Bryce Harman and Lowery. Harman started the stanza with a single to right center, which was followed by Lowery's two-base hit down the right field line.
Inside The Box Score:
The Pirates scored one run with two-outs (fourth inning) pushing their season total to 65 ... ECU was 2-for-8 with RISP and 2-for-12 with two outs (78 on the season) ... VCU left seven runners on base, while ECU left five.
Game Notes:
Watkins extended his hit streak to a career-best 13 games (1-for-3 with a walk) ... Yorgen extended his streak of reaching base safely to 22 games with his lone hit in the fourth inning ... Bryce Harman scored in the fourth inning pushing his streak with at least one run scored to eight (11 of the last 12), which started with a single in the sixth ... Currently he leads the runs (22), doubles (8) and hit by pitches (8) ... Harman (18 games) and Lowery (17) extended their streaks of reaching base safely ... Lowery's streak of driving in at least one was snapped at 13 ... Of ECU's seven losses, five have come from Virginia schools (UVA/3, Liberty/1, VCU/1) ... Since starting the season 0-3, ECU has won 15 of its last 19 games.
