ECU Drops Tight 2-1 Decision At No. 15 North Carolina

Friday, February 23

Chapel Hill, N.C.

5:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

3-2

North Carolina

5-0

East Carolina

North Carolina

February 23, 2024 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Junior RHP Trey Yesavage twirled an absolute gem on the mound Friday night, but No. 15 North Carolina hit an eighth-inning home run to edge No. 11 East Carolina 2-1 at Boshamer Stadium in the opener of a traveling series that continues Saturday at 2 p.m. in Fayetteville at Segra Stadium.

Yesavage was in a word dominant, registering 11 strikeouts while allowing just one run on four hits. Matthew Matthijs (2-0) collected the win, tossing two scoreless frames with a strikeout.

The Pirates (3-2) out-hit the Tar Heels (5-0) 7-6 but left seven one base and hit into a pair of double plays late in the contest.

Ryley Johnson, Carter Cunningham and Jacob Jenkins-Cowart all tallied a pair of hits while Jenkins-Cowart drove in ECU's lone run. Alex Madera paced the home side with two hits and an RBI.

North Carolina put up the first real threat of the game in the home half of the first as Casey Cook laced a one-out standup double to the right center gap and Anthony Donofrio drew a two-out walk, but Yesavage responded with a strikeout of Jackson Van De Brake to keep things scoreless.

The Tar Heels broke onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the second. Luke Stevenson dropped a double into left field to lead things off before Alberto Osuna was hit by a pitch and Madera followed with a sharp double to the wall in left to score Stevenson for the game's first run. Yesavage retired the next three batters in order to limit the damage to one.

Johnson and Cunningham put the Pirates in business with consecutive one-out singles in the top of the fifth. Then, with two away and Cunningham at third, Jenkins-Cowart ripped a double to right center that plated Cunningham and knotted the score at one.

East Carolina had its chances late but hit into a pair of double plays to end the seventh and eighth frames. Vance Honeycutt provided the winning tally in the bottom of the eighth with a leadoff solo blast to left. Matt Poston set the Pirates down in order in the ninth to seal his first save of the campaign.

ECU played its fifth-straight game against a team that qualified for an NCAA Regional last season.
The Pirate pitching staff fanned 13 batters in the contest and have recorded double-digit strikeouts in every game thus far.
Yesavage notched his sixth career 10+ strikeout performance.
The teams combined to go 3-for-24 with runners on base.
The affair unfolder in front of 3,485 spectators, including a healthy representation of East Carolina fans.