Pirates Fall To Camels 6-5 In Extra Innings

Tuesday, February 21

Buies Creek, N.C.

5:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

Campbell

February 21, 2023 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

BUIES CREEK, N.C. – No. 11 East Carolina dropped a 6-5 decision to Campbell in 10 innings Tuesday evening at Jim Perry Stadium.

The Camels (3-1) out-hit the Pirates (3-1) by a 7-6 margin and drew seven walks. ECU pitchers also hit six Campbell batters.

Luke Nowak was the bright spot for the offense, going 3-for-5 with an RBI. Jacob Starling also produced a hit and drove in a run. Seven different Camel batters notched a base hit.

Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman (0-1) was tagged with the loss after giving up one run on two hits in 1.1 innings of work. Aaron Rund (1-0) was the winning pitcher, throwing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts.

Campbell struck first in the home half of the first inning, utilizing an RBI single off the bat of Drew Winters and a Chandler Riley RBI groundout to stake out to a 2-0 advantage. ECU attempted an immediate response in the top of the second, getting runners to the corners after a Nowak infield single, Alec Makarewicz walk and a few wild pitches, but a strikeout terminated the threat.

The Camels added to their lead in the bottom of the second via a two-run long ball by Drake Pierson, but the Pirates broke onto the board in the third. A Jacob Jenkins-Cowart double to the gap in left center was the catalyst as Starling and Nowak followed with run-scoring singles to reduce the Campbell edge to 4-2. With two more runners on, Makarewicz gave a 2-2 offering a ride to right center, but the center fielder made the grab near the warning track

ECU put the pressure on in the top of the fourth, loading the bases with two walks and a Joey Berini single. Camel reliever Ty Cummings looked to have escaped the jam, but Tyler Halstead dropped a routine fly ball to left and all three Pirate runners crossed the plate to propel the Purple and Gold into the lead at 5-4. Campbell tied things in the sixth with a RBI groundout and tried to snatch the upper hand back, but Tyler Bradt induced a liner to Berini at short to strand the bases loaded.

East Carolina got into some trouble in the later frames, but Garrett Saylor, Erik Ritchie and Lunsford-Shenkman recorded big strikeouts to erase the Camels and keep things knotted at five.

As the game moved to extra innings, Nowak reached on a throwing error with one out before proceeding to steal both second and third. The Pirates could not push him across though thanks to a strikeout and fly ball to left.

Campbell put its first two batters on base in the top of the 10th and eventually cashed in with a game-winning RBI single by Logan Jordan.

East Carolina fell to 73-28 all time against Campbell.
The Pirates were just 2-for-12 (.167) with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base.
ECU allowed its opponent to score first for the third time in four games this season.
Jenkins-Cowart and Nowak have hit safely in all four contests in 2023.
Nowak posted his third multi-hit effort of the campaign.

Up Next: East Carolina returns to Clark-LeClair Stadium Friday to kick off a non-conference series with No. 12 North Carolina. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.