Friday, February 24
Greenville, N.C.
5:00 p.m.
East Carolina University
4-1
6
vs
5
North Carolina
4-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
North Carolina
0
0
1
0
0
0
2
0
2
5
7
1
East Carolina
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
X
6
8
1
No. 11 ECU Posts Stirring Comeback Victory Over No. 12 North Carolina
February 24, 2023 | Baseball
GREENVILLE, N.C. – In front of a Clark-LeClair Stadium record crowd of 6,003 Friday night, No. 11 East Carolina scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth to erase a 3-0 deficit and hold on for a thrilling 6-5 non-conference win over No. 12 North Carolina.
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The Pirates (4-1) visit the Tar Heels (4-2) Sunday at 1 p.m. to complete the home and home set.
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Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman (1-1) worked 0.2 scoreless innings and struck out a pair to earn his first victory of the season while Dalton Pence (1-1) was saddled with the loss after surrendering four runs (three earned) on three hits and a walk. Freshman LHP Zach Root notched his first collegiate save, eventually erasing the visitors in the top of the ninth with the tying run at third base.
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Jacob Starling, one of the offensive catalysts in the consequential eighth inning, finished with two hits, two RBI and a run scored while four other ECU batters drove in a run each. Mac Horvath paced North Carolina with a 3-for-5 performance.
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After two quick scoreless frames, North Carolina grabbed an early 1-0 lead thanks to a leadoff long ball off the bat of Jackson Van De Brake. The Tar Heels threatened to plate more as the frame progressed, but Pirate starter Trey Yesavage, who struck out a career high eight in a no decision, worked out of a bit of a jam with a pair of runners in scoring position to keep the deficit at one.
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North Carolina looked to have scored the necessary insurance runs in the top of the seventh thanks to a two-run double by Colby Wilkerson, but East Carolina had other plans in the late stages.
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Alec Makarewicz worked a walk on a full count to lead things off before Josh Moylan ripped a one-out RBI double down the right field line to plate pinch runner Ryley Johnson. Joey Berini followed with a two-bagger of his own down the left field line to drive in Moylan and pull the Pirates within one at 3-2. A Jacob Jenkins-Cowart single moved Berini to third and Lane Hoover hit a comebacker to the mound that was mishandled and allowed pinch runner Nathan Chrismon to cross home plate and knot the score at three.
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With the crowd in full throat at that point, Starling laced a two-run single to center field to propel ECU in front for good. Luke Nowak put the exclamation point on the rally with an RBI single that pushed Starling across.
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The Tar Heels made it interesting in the top of the ninth, tallying a pair of runs on consecutive RBI doubles, but Root slammed the door shut by inducing a ground out to third and a fly ball to left that Hoover squeezed in his glove to seal the win.
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The Pirates (4-1) visit the Tar Heels (4-2) Sunday at 1 p.m. to complete the home and home set.
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Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman (1-1) worked 0.2 scoreless innings and struck out a pair to earn his first victory of the season while Dalton Pence (1-1) was saddled with the loss after surrendering four runs (three earned) on three hits and a walk. Freshman LHP Zach Root notched his first collegiate save, eventually erasing the visitors in the top of the ninth with the tying run at third base.
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Jacob Starling, one of the offensive catalysts in the consequential eighth inning, finished with two hits, two RBI and a run scored while four other ECU batters drove in a run each. Mac Horvath paced North Carolina with a 3-for-5 performance.
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After two quick scoreless frames, North Carolina grabbed an early 1-0 lead thanks to a leadoff long ball off the bat of Jackson Van De Brake. The Tar Heels threatened to plate more as the frame progressed, but Pirate starter Trey Yesavage, who struck out a career high eight in a no decision, worked out of a bit of a jam with a pair of runners in scoring position to keep the deficit at one.
Â
North Carolina looked to have scored the necessary insurance runs in the top of the seventh thanks to a two-run double by Colby Wilkerson, but East Carolina had other plans in the late stages.
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Alec Makarewicz worked a walk on a full count to lead things off before Josh Moylan ripped a one-out RBI double down the right field line to plate pinch runner Ryley Johnson. Joey Berini followed with a two-bagger of his own down the left field line to drive in Moylan and pull the Pirates within one at 3-2. A Jacob Jenkins-Cowart single moved Berini to third and Lane Hoover hit a comebacker to the mound that was mishandled and allowed pinch runner Nathan Chrismon to cross home plate and knot the score at three.
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With the crowd in full throat at that point, Starling laced a two-run single to center field to propel ECU in front for good. Luke Nowak put the exclamation point on the rally with an RBI single that pushed Starling across.
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The Tar Heels made it interesting in the top of the ninth, tallying a pair of runs on consecutive RBI doubles, but Root slammed the door shut by inducing a ground out to third and a fly ball to left that Hoover squeezed in his glove to seal the win.
- The stadium-record crowd of 6,003 surpassed the 5,807 that took in game two of the 2022 NCAA Greenville Super Regional (6/11/22).
- East Carolina won its fourth-straight decision over North Carolina at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
- Jenkins-Cowart and Nowak extended their season-opening hitting streaks to five games.
- ECU went 4-for-9 (.444) with runners in scoring position.
- The Pirate pitching staff struck out a season-high 13 batters for the second time.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lunsford-Shenkman, Wyatt (1-1)
L: Dalton Pence (1-1)
S: Root, Zach (1)
Batting:
2B: Vance Honeycutt 1 ; Mac Horvath 3 ; Jackson Van De Brake 1 ; Colby Wilkerson 1
HR: Jackson Van De Brake 1
RBI: Vance Honeycutt 1 ; Mac Horvath 1 ; Jackson Van De Brake 1 ; Colby Wilkerson 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Vance Honeycutt 1 ; Hunter Stokely 1 ; Jackson Van De Brake 2 ; Colby Wilkerson 1
HBP: Tomas Frick 1 ; Hunter Stokely 2
Batting:
2B: Moylan, Josh 1 ; Berini, Joey 1
RBI: Hoover, Lane 1 ; Starling, Jacob 2 ; Nowak, Luke 1 ; Moylan, Josh 1 ; Berini, Joey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1 ; Hoover, Lane 1 ; Starling, Jacob 1 ; Johnson, Ryley 1 ; Moylan, Josh 1 ; Chrismon, Nathan 1
SB: Hoover, Lane 1 ; Starling, Jacob 1
CS: Hoover, Lane 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
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INF/OF
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OF
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RHP
/ Baseball
INF/OF
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1B
/ BaseballOF
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INF/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
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