East Carolina University
Cincinnati
ECU Completes Sweep of Cincinnati, 8-7
May 16, 2015 | Baseball
CINCINNATI, Ohio - Bryce Harman and Charlie Yorgen each belted home runs helping East Carolina complete a three-game series sweep over Cincinnati 8-7 Saturday afternoon at Marge Schott Stadium.
With the win the Pirates close out the regular season with a 36-20 overall record and 15-9 ledger in American Athletic Conference play, while the Bearcats finish 15-39 and 6-18. ECU also earned the second seed at the upcoming AAC Championships and will play seventh seed UCF on Wednesday, May 20 at 11 a.m. (ET).
Nick Durazo (4-0) picked up the win working a scoreless inning of relief allowing one hit and striking out two. Joe Ingle notched his team-leading sixth save (third of the week) recording the final two outs in the ninth with a strikeout. Starter Jacob Wolfe gave up three runs (all earned) on seven hits with a walk and four strikeouts in five innings of work. Jimmy Boyd (1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R), Evan Voliva (0.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R) and Kirk Morgan (1.1 IP, 1 H) also worked out of the bullpen for the Pirates.
Mitch Patishall (0-3) suffered the loss allowing a run (earned) on three hits with three free passes and one strikeout over 4-plus innings. Starter A.J. Olasz went two innings giving up five runs (all earned) on five hits. David Orndorff (2.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R) and Dalton Lehnen (0.1 IP) made appearances in relief.
The Pirates recorded 12 hits getting multiple base knocks from Hunter Allen, Luke Lowery, Reid Love and Travis Watkins. In all, eight different players registered at least one hit. Harman drove in a team-high three runs, while Yorgen added two.
Ian Happ and Manny Rodriguez each collected three hits for the Bearcats in their 14-hit outing. Treg Haberkorn, Woody Wallace and Devin Wenzel each chipped in with two. Happ, R.J. Thompson and Wenzel recorded six of Cincinnati's seven RBI.
Up Next:
The Pirates will head down to Clearwater, Fla. to participate in the 2015 American Athletic Conference Championship, which is set to begin on Tuesday, May 19.
How It Happened:
Lowery broke a seven-all tie in the top of the eighth doubling to right center scoring Eric Tyler from first base. Tyler reached on a one-out infield before scoring on Lowery's second hit of the contest.
ECU jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second, which was highlighted by Harman and Yorgen two-run home runs. Travis Watkins led off the frame with a single and took second on Kirk Morgan's sac bunt. After Reid Love flew out to right field, Harman blasted his seventh homer of the season sending a shot over the right centerfield wall. Parker Lamm kept the inning going with a single through the right side which was followed by a bunt single by Allen. After a stolen base by Lamm and an errant throw by Wallace behind the plate that allowed Lamm to score and moved Allen to third, Yorgen deposited a 3-1 offering from Olasz over the right field wall capping the frame.
Cincinnati gets on the board in the home half of the third cutting into ECU's lead, 5-1. Rodriguez led off with a triple to right center and scored on Thompson's ground out to second.
The Pirates added two runs in the fifth on a Rodrgiuez error that scored Lowery and a Harman RBI ground out with the bases loaded that plated Watkins making it a six run game, 7-1.
Thompson's RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the sixth pulled the Bearcats within three, 7-4. Wallace led off with a single through the left side and moved to second on Hunter Losekamp's ground out to second before easily scoring on Thompson's base knock.
Wenzel's two-run home run to right field tied the game at seven-all in the bottom of the seventh inning. Happ led off the frame with a double to right center and scored on Joey Thomas' single off Voliva's foot on the mound. Wenzel stepped in and smoked his fourth homer of the year.
