Saturday, March 23
San Antonio, Texas
3:00 p.m.
East Carolina University
16-5, 1-1
14
at
10
UTSA
11-12, 1-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
East Carolina
0
0
3
0
0
3
6
0
2
14
16
2
UTSA
1
0
0
0
3
0
0
6
0
10
16
4
No. 10 ECU Outslugs UTSA 14-10 To Even Series
March 23, 2024 | Baseball
SAN ANTONIO, Texas ā No. 10 East Carolina scored 11 runs in the final four innings to hold off UTSA 14-10 and tie the teams' American Athletic Conference series Saturday afternoon at Roadrunner Field.
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The top two hitting sides in the league by average entering the weekend each rapped out 16 hits while the Roadrunners (11-12, 1-1 AAC) committed four errors to the Pirates' (16-5, 1-1 AAC) two.
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Bristol Carter paced the ECU offensive efforts with three hits and two runs scored and Joey Berini chipped in with three RBI. Ryan McCrystal also put in a solid performance, finishing the day with two hits, two runs scored and a pair of RBI. Tye Odom led UTSA with three hits and five RBI.
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Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman (2-1) earned the win in relief, tossing 2.2 scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Danny Beal also notched his third save of the campaign, fanning two batters and allowing just one hit over 1.2 frames. Conor Myles (0-2) was tagged with the loss after surrendering four runs (three earned) with two strikeouts in just one innings of work.
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As it did yesterday, UTSA put a run up on the board in the bottom of the first. Mason Lytle and Matt King singled consecutively to lead off the frame, resulting in runners on the corners with no outs. Pirate starter Zach Root registered the first out via a strikeout, but Ty Tilson lifted a ball to center deep enough to allow Lytle to put the Roadrunners ahead. UTSA threatened for more, but Ryley Johnson made a nice snag in center to terminate the inning and leave the deficit at one.
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ECU answered in the top of the third. Walker Barron deposited a leadoff single into shallow center before moving to second on a Berini sacrifice bunt. Ryley Johnson then sent an RBI single through the left side and Carter Cunningham followed with a sharp single through the right side that advanced Johnson to third. Jacob Jenkins-Cowart kept the line moving with a run-scoring single past the first baseman and Jacob Starling drew a full count before tallying a sac fly to center to afford the Pirates a 3-1 lead moving to the home half of the inning.
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An error to begin the bottom of the fifth proved the catalyst for the Roadrunners to retake the upper hand as five-straight base hits from there resulted in three runs and a 4-3 UTSA advantage. Lunsford-Shenkman entered with two runners on later in the inning and induced a double play to keep the East Carolina deficit at one.
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The Pirates put together a barrage of offense to seeming pull away in the sixth and seventh frames, scoring unanswered runs to move ahead 12-4. Barron notched a two-out RBI single in the sixth before Berini roped a two-run shot just out of the reach of the Roadrunner right fielder, pushing ECU in front 6-4.
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The hit parade continued in the top of the seventh as Cunningham laced a leadoff single into right center and Jenkins-Cowart was hit by a pitch. A failed pickoff attempt at second moved both runners into scoring position before a ball was handled in foul ground for the first out. McCrystal would rip a 2-0 pitch into center that reached the wall and allowed him to hustle all the way to third for a two-run triple. Carter kept the line moving with an RBI single and Colby Wallace followed with a single of his own to extend the rally. Luke Nowak, Berini and Johnson ended up driving in three more runs consecutively to cap the six-run inning.
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The Roadrunners found new life in the bottom of the eighth, responding with six runs of their own thanks in large part to an Odom grand slam to pull within 12-10. Beal entered the contest at that point and retired the final two batters of the inning to keep the Pirates in the lead.
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ECU added some insurance in the ninth in the form of Nowak and Cunningham sac flies and Beal took care of the rest, working around a one-out single to complete the save.
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The top two hitting sides in the league by average entering the weekend each rapped out 16 hits while the Roadrunners (11-12, 1-1 AAC) committed four errors to the Pirates' (16-5, 1-1 AAC) two.
Ā
Bristol Carter paced the ECU offensive efforts with three hits and two runs scored and Joey Berini chipped in with three RBI. Ryan McCrystal also put in a solid performance, finishing the day with two hits, two runs scored and a pair of RBI. Tye Odom led UTSA with three hits and five RBI.
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Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman (2-1) earned the win in relief, tossing 2.2 scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Danny Beal also notched his third save of the campaign, fanning two batters and allowing just one hit over 1.2 frames. Conor Myles (0-2) was tagged with the loss after surrendering four runs (three earned) with two strikeouts in just one innings of work.
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Just having some funšš“āā ļø #PIRATES pic.twitter.com/rfHh8jIyhs
ā ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) March 23, 2024
As it did yesterday, UTSA put a run up on the board in the bottom of the first. Mason Lytle and Matt King singled consecutively to lead off the frame, resulting in runners on the corners with no outs. Pirate starter Zach Root registered the first out via a strikeout, but Ty Tilson lifted a ball to center deep enough to allow Lytle to put the Roadrunners ahead. UTSA threatened for more, but Ryley Johnson made a nice snag in center to terminate the inning and leave the deficit at one.
Ā
ECU answered in the top of the third. Walker Barron deposited a leadoff single into shallow center before moving to second on a Berini sacrifice bunt. Ryley Johnson then sent an RBI single through the left side and Carter Cunningham followed with a sharp single through the right side that advanced Johnson to third. Jacob Jenkins-Cowart kept the line moving with a run-scoring single past the first baseman and Jacob Starling drew a full count before tallying a sac fly to center to afford the Pirates a 3-1 lead moving to the home half of the inning.
Ā
An error to begin the bottom of the fifth proved the catalyst for the Roadrunners to retake the upper hand as five-straight base hits from there resulted in three runs and a 4-3 UTSA advantage. Lunsford-Shenkman entered with two runners on later in the inning and induced a double play to keep the East Carolina deficit at one.
Ā
The Pirates put together a barrage of offense to seeming pull away in the sixth and seventh frames, scoring unanswered runs to move ahead 12-4. Barron notched a two-out RBI single in the sixth before Berini roped a two-run shot just out of the reach of the Roadrunner right fielder, pushing ECU in front 6-4.
Ā
The hit parade continued in the top of the seventh as Cunningham laced a leadoff single into right center and Jenkins-Cowart was hit by a pitch. A failed pickoff attempt at second moved both runners into scoring position before a ball was handled in foul ground for the first out. McCrystal would rip a 2-0 pitch into center that reached the wall and allowed him to hustle all the way to third for a two-run triple. Carter kept the line moving with an RBI single and Colby Wallace followed with a single of his own to extend the rally. Luke Nowak, Berini and Johnson ended up driving in three more runs consecutively to cap the six-run inning.
Ā
The Roadrunners found new life in the bottom of the eighth, responding with six runs of their own thanks in large part to an Odom grand slam to pull within 12-10. Beal entered the contest at that point and retired the final two batters of the inning to keep the Pirates in the lead.
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ECU added some insurance in the ninth in the form of Nowak and Cunningham sac flies and Beal took care of the rest, working around a one-out single to complete the save.
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- East Carolina improved to 5-0 when scoring 10 or more runs in a game this season.
- The Pirates are now 6-4 in true road games.
- ECU did a much better job Saturday with runners in scoring position, registering eight hits in 16 at bats.
- McCrystal's triple in the seventh inning was the first of his career.
- The Roadrunners did not produce a two-out RBI while the Pirates finished with four.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lunsford-Shenkman, Wyatt (2-1)
L: Myles (0-2)
S: Beal, Danny (3)
Batting:
2B: Nowak, Luke 1
3B: McCrystal, Ryan 1
RBI: Johnson, Ryley 2 ; Cunningham, Carter 1 ; Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1 ; Starling, Jacob 1 ; McCrystal, Ryan 2 ; Carter, Bristol 1 ; Barron, Walker 1 ; Nowak, Luke 2 ; Berini, Joey 3
SH: Berini, Joey 1
SF: Cunningham, Carter 1 ; Starling, Jacob 1 ; Nowak, Luke 1 ; Berini, Joey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnson, Ryley 1 ; Cunningham, Carter 2 ; Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1 ; Starling, Jacob 1 ; McCrystal, Ryan 2 ; Carter, Bristol 2 ; Wallace, Colby 1 ; Chrismon, Nathan 1 ; Barron, Walker 2 ; Nowak, Luke 1
SB: Johnson, Ryley 1
CS: Clonch, Cam 1
HBP: Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1 ; Berini, Joey 1
Batting:
2B: Odom 1
HR: Odom 1
RBI: King 1 ; Hill 2 ; Tilson 1 ; Taussig 1 ; Odom 3
SF: Tilson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lytle 3 ; King 1 ; Hill 2 ; Taussig 1 ; Odom 1 ; Joyce 1 ; Rodriguez 1
HBP: Taussig 1
Game Leaders
lf/cf
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
1b/lf
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
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INF/RHP
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