No. 19 ECU Defeats UNC Wilmington 9-6

Tuesday, March 29

Greenville, N.C.

6:30 PM

East Carolina University

17-8

UNC-Wilmington

15-7

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
UNC Wilmington	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	3	1	6	12	0
East Carolina	0	3	1	2	1	1	0	1	X	9	14	1

March 29, 2016 | Baseball

Box Score

March 29, 2016

Photo Gallery l Highlights and Interviews | Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Eric Tyler collected four hits and Travis Watkins smacked his second home run of the season lifting No. 19 East Carolina to a 9-6 win over in-state rival UNC Wilmington Tuesday night at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium. With the win the Pirates improve to 17-8, while the Seahawks dropped to 15-7.

Jacob Wolfe (3-2) picked up the win allowing two runs (both earned) on six hits with five strikeouts over 6.1 innings in his midweek start. Joe Ingle notched his fifth save of the year surrendering a run (unearned) with a walk and three punch outs in 1.2 relief frames. Sam Lanier made his 10th appearance giving up a hit in two-thirds of an inning, while Davis Kirkpatrick worked one-third of an inning allowing three runs (all earned) on five hits.

Justin Crump (1-1) suffered his first loss of the season giving up four runs (all earned) on five hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts in 2.2 innings. UNCW used six pitchers in relief getting work from Austin Easter (1.1 IP, 2 Rs), Taylor Hyssong (1.1 IP, 1 R), Gunner Deal (0.1 IP, 1 R), Whitman Barnes (1.0 IP), Josh Roberson (0.1 IP) and Jared Gesell (1.0 IP, 1 R).

ECU banged out double-digit hits for the 15th time recording 14 on the night. Tyler led the attack going 4-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored, while Parker Lamm, Zack Mozingo and Watkins added two apiece. In all, eight Pirates posted at least one hit, seven had one RBI and seven scored at least one run.

UNCW tallied 12 hits in the game and were led by Casey Golden and Steven Linkous, who both had three hits. Brian Mims added two base knocks and scored a run, while Nick Feight drove in a pair of runs.

How It Happened:
ECU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning and never looked back. Harman drove in the first run on an RBI single to left that scored Tyler from second base. Kirk Morgan plated the second run on a sac bunt that pushed across Dwanya Williams-Sutton and Lamm's infield single to short allowed Harman to cross home.

UNCW scratched across a run in the third cutting the Pirate lead to two, 3-1. Robbie Thorburn singled to start the stanza and took second on Kennard McDowell's ground out to third. Linkous followed with a base knock to left field easily plating Thorburn from second base.

The Pirates pushed their lead to seven, 8-1, over the next four frames scoring a run in the third, fifth and sixth innings, and two in the fourth. Mozingo scored on wild pitch in the third and in the fourth, ECU got RBI singles by Mozingo and Tyler making it a 6-1 ball game. A balk by Hyssong in the fifth scored Morgan and Watkins homered for the second time this season in the sixth.

UNCW pushed across four runs in the seventh and eighth frames pulling within three, 8-5. But ECU responded with a run in the bottom half of the eighth on Garrett Brooks' RBI double down the left field line that scored Tyler for a 9-5 advantage. The Seahawks scored their final run of the night in the ninth on a fielding error by the Pirates.

Game Notes:
ECU had three two-out RBI in the contest pushing its season total to 58 ... Watkins belted his second home run of the season (ECU's sixth in last four games) in the sixth inning ... Harman's RBI single in the second inning extended his current hit streak to five games ... Tyler (ninth), Lamm (eighth), Watkins (seventh) and Mozingo (third) all had multi-hit games on the night ... Morgan extended his hit streak to nine games with a double down the left field line in the fifth inning ... Ingle recorded his 13th career save (third since Mar. 22, 2016).

Up Next:
ECU will continue its seven-game home stand when it plays host to No. 15 Houston Friday, April 1 to start American Athletic Conference play. First pitch of the three-game series is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (ET).