Pirates Fall To Cougars 6-4 In Series Finale

Sunday, April 2

Houston, Texas

2:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

20-8, 0

Houston

14-14, 0

ECU

Houston

April 02, 2023 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

HOUSTON, TEXAS – No. 8 East Carolina dropped the final game of its opening American Athletic Conference series of the season at Houston by a 6-4 score Sunday afternoon at Schroeder Park.

The Pirates fall to 20-8 overall and 1-2 in AAC play while the Cougars improve to 14-14 and 2-1.

Joey Berini went 2-for-2 at the plate to pace ECU as Luke Nowak also contributed a pair of RBI. Alex Lopez and Zach Arnold combined to drive in five runs for Houston.

Owen Woodward's record stayed perfect on the mound at 2-0 despite allowing a pair of runs in one inning of work. Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman (2-2) was saddled with the loss, yielding a run and striking out three.

East Carolina produced an early scoring chance in the top of the second as Alec Makarewicz walked and moved to second on a wild pitch with one out, but Jose Torrealba tallied a strikeout and induced a fly ball to left to retire the side.

As it did in the previous two games in the series, Houston took an early advantage via a solo home run off the bat of Burckel in the home half of the third inning. A two-out Pirate fielding error in the bottom of the fifth proved costly as with two on, Zach Arnold golfed a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left to give the home side a 3-0 advantage.

Jacob Starling got the offense going in the top of the sixth, leading off the frame with solo bomb to left before Nowak reached on an infield single. A groundout put Nowak at second and pinch hitter Berini shot a single through the right side to plate Nowak and make it a 3-2 affair.

A Jacob Jenkins-Cowart double with one away in the top of the seventh was followed by a Josh Moylan walk. A groundout moved the runners into scoring position for Nowak who laced a double to the wall in left center to score both and propel ECU ahead 4-3. The upper hand would be short lived, however, as Alex Lopez knocked a three-run home run off the foul pole in left to put his club ahead by two. That proved the difference as the Pirates were unable to score in the eighth or ninth frames.

Up Next: East Carolina plays host to NC State Tuesday evening in a non-conference contest televised by ESPNU. First pitch at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium is set for 5:30 p.m.