East Carolina University
USF
USF Takes Opening Game From ECU, 2-1
April 10, 2015 | Baseball
TAMPA, Fla. - Luke Maglich belted a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning lifting USF (23-11-1, 6-1) to a 2-1 American Athletic Conference series opening win over East Carolina (20-14, 3-4) Friday night at USF Baseball Stadium.
Jimmy Herget (6-1) scattered seven hits over eight innings allowing one run (earned) with nine strikeouts and a walk. Tommy Peterson notched his 11th save of the season tossing a perfect ninth frame with one strikeout.
Reid Love (3-3) had a solid outing allowing a pair of runs (both earned) on six hits with a walk and four strikeouts in 6.1 innings. Joe Ingle made his15th appearance out of the bullpen striking out both batters he faced in the seventh with runners on first and second. Nick Durazo pitched a scoreless eighth issuing a walk.
ECU managed seven hits compared to USF's six, but the big blow came in the fifth when Maglich took a 2-1 Love offering over the right field wall. Travis Watkins recorded his team-leading 13th multi-hit game going 2-for-4 and drove in the lone run for the Pirates. Five other Pirates registered one hit on the night, while Bryce Harman drew the only free pass issued by the Bulls pitchers.
UP NEXT:
ECU and USF will continue the three-game weekend series Saturday, Apr. 11 with a 6:30 p.m. (ET) first pitch. The series will conclude Sunday, Apr. 12 at 12:30 p.m.
How It Happened:
Trailing 1-0 in the home half of the fifth, Luke Borders singled to left field and came around on Maglich's fifth home run of the season making it a 2-1 game for the Bulls.
ECU struck first in the top of the fifth when Watkins singled home Hunter Allen from second with a shot to center. Allen and Love recorded consecutive one-out base knocks before Watkins second hit of the contest.
Inside The Box Score:
ECU recorded four two-out hits (112 on the season) which lead to its lone run pushing the season total to 81 ... UCF had just one two-out hit and was 0-for-2 with RISP, while ECU was 1-for-5 with RISP ... ECU stranded six runners on the night compared to three for USF ... Both teams leadoff batter reached base three times ... The Pirates advanced runners at a 30.8 percent clip (4-for-13), while the Bulls were 2-for-9 (22.2 percent).
Game Notes:
Reid Love extended his hit streak to eight games with a single in the fifth ... He also recorded his second consecutive quality start ... Luke Lowery's base hit in the fourth extended his on-base streak to six seven games ... Watkins threw out his 14th base runner with a perfect strike to second nailing Austin Lueck to end the fifth ... The Pirates drop to 1-5 in one-run games this season ... ECU turned a pair of double plays pushing its season total to 40 - heading into the weekend the Pirates were tied for fifth nationally in twin-killings.
