Friday, February 16
Greenville, N.C.
4:00 p.m.
East Carolina University
1-0
16
vs
2
Rider
0-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Rider
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
2
2
0
East Carolina
7
0
0
2
0
1
1
5
X
16
15
0
No. 11 ECU Rolls Over Rider In Season Opener, 16-2
February 16, 2024 | Baseball
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Attempting to write a better script of what occurred at Clark-LeClair Stadium Friday evening would be quite the endeavor.
Not only did No. 11 East Carolina open its campaign with a commanding 16-2 victory over Rider, but Parker Byrd, who had part of his right leg amputated following a boating accident in 2022, made his collegiate debut in the eighth inning wearing a prosthetic.
To top it off, the moment unfolded before a Clark-LeClair Stadium Opening Day record crowd of 5,221 fans who provided a thunderous ovation that rang through the Greenville night. Following a first-pitch strike, Byrd drew four-straight balls to reach base.
On the whole, East Carolina pounded out 15 hits and used an explosive seven-run first to seize early control. Pirate ace Trey Yesavage (1-0) enjoyed a strong start to his campaign, earning the win after surrendering just one run on one hit with eight strikeouts in four innings of work. Brian Young (0-1) was saddled with the loss for the visitors as the Pirates touched him up for seven runs on five hits and two walks. He did not record an out or a strikeout.
Jacob Jenkins-Cowart filled up the stat sheet offensively to the tune of two hits, three runs scored and four RBI while also clubbing his first home run of the season. Carter Cunningham added three base knocks of his own as well as two runs scored and two RBI. Bristol Carter made his collegiate debut in top of the seventh by entering the game defensively in left field. He then ripped a leadoff double to left in the bottom half of the frame before adding an infield single in the eighth. Kyle Neri claimed the only two hits for the Broncs with both leaving the yard and accounting for each of Rider's runs.
After Yesavage breezed through the top of the order with three strikeouts in the opening frame, the Pirate offense wasted no time getting to work. Ryley Johnson started things off by drawing a walk on a full count before Jacob Starling was hit by the first pitch he faced. Justin Wilcoxen followed with a sharp single to right field to load the bases and Jenkins-Cowart walked to score Johnson for ECU's first run of the campaign. Chaz Myers, Luke Nowak, Cunningham and Dixon Williams all proceeded to rap out singles consecutively from there, accounting for the next five tallies, before Johnson capped off the inning with a sac fly that plated Cunningham and left the Purple and Gold with a 7-0 cushion.
The scoring settled down for a while as Neri went yard in the top of third to get the Broncs on the board and slice his team's deficit to 7-1. ECU would respond with a two spot in the fourth via a Jenkins-Cowart double to left. Just two innings later, he took the first pitch of his at bat over the scoreboard in right center to extend the ECU advantage to 10-1.
Cam Clonch pinch hit and kept things rolling in the seventh, stroking an RBI single through the right side to score Carter from third. The Pirates then put the finishing touches on the evening with five runs in the eighth to provide the final margin. Colby Wallace tallied his first collegiate RBI thanks to a bases-loaded walk while Cunningham, Chrismon, Clonch and McCrystal also drove in a run each in the frame. Freshman Jackson DiLorenzo took the mound for the first time in his college career in the top of the ninth and produced a tidy 1-2-3 inning to seal the victory.
Not only did No. 11 East Carolina open its campaign with a commanding 16-2 victory over Rider, but Parker Byrd, who had part of his right leg amputated following a boating accident in 2022, made his collegiate debut in the eighth inning wearing a prosthetic.
To top it off, the moment unfolded before a Clark-LeClair Stadium Opening Day record crowd of 5,221 fans who provided a thunderous ovation that rang through the Greenville night. Following a first-pitch strike, Byrd drew four-straight balls to reach base.
On the whole, East Carolina pounded out 15 hits and used an explosive seven-run first to seize early control. Pirate ace Trey Yesavage (1-0) enjoyed a strong start to his campaign, earning the win after surrendering just one run on one hit with eight strikeouts in four innings of work. Brian Young (0-1) was saddled with the loss for the visitors as the Pirates touched him up for seven runs on five hits and two walks. He did not record an out or a strikeout.
What. A. Moment. 🤟🏴☠️@parkerbyrd11 pic.twitter.com/qqkzVjfktj
— ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) February 16, 2024
Jacob Jenkins-Cowart filled up the stat sheet offensively to the tune of two hits, three runs scored and four RBI while also clubbing his first home run of the season. Carter Cunningham added three base knocks of his own as well as two runs scored and two RBI. Bristol Carter made his collegiate debut in top of the seventh by entering the game defensively in left field. He then ripped a leadoff double to left in the bottom half of the frame before adding an infield single in the eighth. Kyle Neri claimed the only two hits for the Broncs with both leaving the yard and accounting for each of Rider's runs.
After Yesavage breezed through the top of the order with three strikeouts in the opening frame, the Pirate offense wasted no time getting to work. Ryley Johnson started things off by drawing a walk on a full count before Jacob Starling was hit by the first pitch he faced. Justin Wilcoxen followed with a sharp single to right field to load the bases and Jenkins-Cowart walked to score Johnson for ECU's first run of the campaign. Chaz Myers, Luke Nowak, Cunningham and Dixon Williams all proceeded to rap out singles consecutively from there, accounting for the next five tallies, before Johnson capped off the inning with a sac fly that plated Cunningham and left the Purple and Gold with a 7-0 cushion.
The scoring settled down for a while as Neri went yard in the top of third to get the Broncs on the board and slice his team's deficit to 7-1. ECU would respond with a two spot in the fourth via a Jenkins-Cowart double to left. Just two innings later, he took the first pitch of his at bat over the scoreboard in right center to extend the ECU advantage to 10-1.
Cam Clonch pinch hit and kept things rolling in the seventh, stroking an RBI single through the right side to score Carter from third. The Pirates then put the finishing touches on the evening with five runs in the eighth to provide the final margin. Colby Wallace tallied his first collegiate RBI thanks to a bases-loaded walk while Cunningham, Chrismon, Clonch and McCrystal also drove in a run each in the frame. Freshman Jackson DiLorenzo took the mound for the first time in his college career in the top of the ninth and produced a tidy 1-2-3 inning to seal the victory.
- East Carolina improved to 9-0 all time against Rider and won its season opener for the second-straight year.
- The Pirates utilized 18 position players in the game as well as a quartet of pitchers.
- A total of eight players made their collegiate debuts in Walker Barron, Parker Byrd, Bristol Carter, Jackson DiLorenzo, Jason Janesko, Ethan Norby, Nick Parham and Colby Wallace.
- ECU hit a stout .526 (10-for-19) with runners in scoring position and batted .857 (12-for-14) with a runner on third and less than two outs.
- The teams played a clean defensive game on the stat sheet as neither club committed an error.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Yesavage, Trey (1-0)
L: Young, Brian (0-1)
Batting:
HR: Neri, Kyle 2
RBI: Neri, Kyle 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Neri, Kyle 2
HBP: Winsett, Jack 1 ; Skettini, Brian 1
Batting:
2B: Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1 ; Carter, Bristol 1
HR: Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1
RBI: Johnson, Ryley 1 ; Clonch, Cam 2 ; McCrystal, Ryan 1 ; Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 4 ; Myers, Chaz 1 ; Nowak, Luke 1 ; Cunningham, Carter 2 ; Williams, Dixon 2 ; Wallace, Colby 1 ; Chrismon, Nathan 1
SF: Johnson, Ryley 1 ; McCrystal, Ryan 1 ; Chrismon, Nathan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnson, Ryley 2 ; Starling, Jacob 2 ; Wilcoxen, Justin 1 ; Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 3 ; Myers, Chaz 1 ; Janesko, Jason 1 ; Nowak, Luke 1 ; Carter, Bristol 2 ; Cunningham, Carter 2 ; Wallace, Colby 1
SB: Johnson, Ryley 1 ; Starling, Jacob 1 ; Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1
CS: Cunningham, Carter 1
HBP: Starling, Jacob 3 ; Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
1b/lf
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
2
ph/1b
AB
2
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
4
lf/cf
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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LHP
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