East Carolina University
23-11, 5-3
Memphis
12-23, 3-5
No. 23 ECU Claims Series Win At Memphis, 8-2
April 16, 2016 | Baseball
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Travis Watkins drove in four runs, while Parker Lamm collected four hits as No. 23 East Carolina claimed an 8-2 series win over Memphis Saturday afternoon at FedExPark in American Athletic Conference action. With the win the Pirates improve to 23-11 on the season and 5-3 in league play, while the Tigers drop to 12-23 and 3-5.
Jimmy Boyd (5-2) notched his fifth win of the season allowing a pair of runs (both earned) on six hits in 5.2 innings. The right-hander issued one walk, struck out two and at one point in the contest retired 11 of 12 batters from the second to the sixth inning before turning the game over to the bullpen. Matt Bridges tossed a career-high three innings of shutout relief, while tying a career-high with four strikeouts. Sam Lanier made his 15th appearance of the season recording the final out in the sixth frame.
Connor Alexander (2-4) suffered the loss surrendering four runs (all earned) on seven hits with a pair of walks and five strikeouts. The Tigers used four pitchers in relief getting outings from James Muse (0.0 IP, 3 Rs), Alex Smith (0.1 IP, 1 R), Trey McNickle (0.1 IP) and Hunter Smith (2.0 IP, 2 Ks).
For the second-straight game and 20th time this year the Pirates had double-digit hits with 11 in the contest. Lamm continued his hot hitting going 4-for-4 with and RBI and two runs scored. Watkins tied his career-high with four RBI and roped three doubles on the day - a first by a Pirate since Trent Whitehead back in 2011. Eric Tyler joined the hit parade with a 2-for-4 performance and also drove a run and scored a pair. Garrett Brooks and Turner Brown each collected an RBI on the afternoon.
Zach Schritenthal tallied two of the Tigers seven hits, while Andy Bowman, Chris Carrier, Brandon Grudzielank and Jake Elliott each added a base knock.
How It Happened:
ECU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Brown's lone hit of the contest and never looked back. Watkins led off the frame with the first of his three doubles and came around to score on Brown's RBI single to right center.
Watkins' second extra base hit of the game staked ECU to a 3-0 lead in the third. Lamm got things going with a lead off single through the left side and took second on Tyler's infield single to first. With two outs, Watkins' stroked a double to left field clearing the bases.
Lamm's two-out RBI extended the Pirates lead to four, 4-0, in the fourth stanza. Brown walked with one out, stole second and came around to score on Lamm's single to left field.
Memphis finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth pushing across a pair of runs and pulling within two, 4-2. Grudzielanek scored the Tigers first run on Carrier's single through the left side. After a Lanier entered the game for the Pirates with runners on second and third, Elliott darted home on a wild pitch cutting the lead in half.
ECU opened the game up with a four-run seventh giving the Pirates an 8-2 lead. Tyler drove in Lamm on a single through the left side and Watkins laced his third double of the contest plating a pair of runs (Brady Lloyd and Tyler). Brooks' sac fly to center accounted for the final run, pushing across Luke Bolka.
Game Notes:
ECU had four two-out RBI pushing its season total to 76 (nine in the series) … Lamm tied a career-high with four hits and has tallied nine hits and 10 RBI in his last three games … With his three doubles, Watkins leads the club with 13 … Tyler and Watkins have recorded multiple hits in both games of the series … Tyler leads the club with 14 multi-hit games, while Lamm (12 games) and Watkins (nine) added multiple base knocks on the day … Kirk Morgan saw his six game hit streak and 17 game streak of reaching base safely come to an end with an 0-for-1 performance at the plate … Bridges is the fourth Pirate to register a save on the season joining Joe Ingle (seven), Nick Durazo (one) and Davis Kirkpatrick (one) … The Pirates improved to 16-4 when registering 10 or more hits in a game.
Up Next:
ECU will look to complete its first conference sweep of the year when they square-off against Memphis on Sunday, April 17 at 1 p.m. (ET).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Boyd, Jimmy (5-2)
L: ALEXANDER, Connor (2-4)
S: Bridges, Matt (1)
Batting:
2B: Watkins, Travis 3
RBI: Lamm, Parker 1 ; Tyler, Eric 1 ; Watkins, Travis 4 ; Brooks, Garrett 1 ; Brown, Turner 1
SF: Brooks, Garrett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lamm, Parker 2 ; Lloyd, Brady 1 ; Tyler, Eric 2 ; Bolka, Luke 1 ; Watkins, Travis 1 ; Brown, Turner 1
SB: Lamm, Parker 1 ; Lloyd, Brady 1 ; Tyler, Eric 1 ; Brown, Turner 1
CS: Lamm, Parker 1
Batting:
RBI: CARRIER, Chris 1
Base Running:
RUNS: GRUDZIELANEK,Brandon 1 ; ELLIOTT, Jacob 1
HBP: LITTLE, Jake 1
