No. 15 ECU Completes Season Series Sweep Of UNCW

Tuesday, March 26

Greenville, N.C.

6:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

17-6

UNCW

14-11

UNCW

East Carolina

March 26, 2024 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – No. 15 East Carolina used a lockdown effort from its bullpen to rally from an early deficit and defeat UNCW 7-4 Tuesday evening inside Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

Coupled with a 10-inning victory in Wilmington a few weeks ago, the Pirates (17-6) polished off a season series sweep of the Seahawks (14-11) and avenged a pair of setbacks to UNCW in 2023.

Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman (3-1) was electric in relief, picking up the victory after tossing three scoreless innings with four strikeouts and no walks. Tanner Thach (0-2) was saddled with the loss, surrendering two runs (one earned) in just 0.1 innings of work.

The top of the ECU lineup did major damage in the contest as Carter Cunningham, Jacob Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob Starling and Ryan McCrystal combined for seven hits, three runs scored and four RBI, while Joey Berini chipped in with two hits (including his first triple of the campaign). Trevor Marsh and Alec DeMartino paced the visitors with three hits apiece.

There goes that man🫢😎 @ryanmccrystal9 https://t.co/IvbFwEXQ1j pic.twitter.com/h8QpJQ9AeB
— ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) March 27, 2024

The Seahawks took an early lead in the top of the first thanks to a two-run home run off the bat of Marsh. UNCW then added two more in the second via a Jac Croom solo blast and Kyle Dobos sacrifice fly. The Pirates answered in the bottom of the second when, after a leadoff Bristol Carter walk, Chaz Myers drilled a 1-2 offering over the wall in left to cut the Seahawk advantage in half.

East Carolina crept even closer in the bottom of the fifth. Cunningham was hit by a pitch with one out before Jenkins-Cowart roped a single up the middle. Following a pitching change, Starling took a 2-2 pitch into right field for an RBI single that pulled the Pirates within one.

The Purple and Gold cemented the comeback in the seventh. Colby Wallace reached on an error to lead off the half inning, pinch runner Nathan Chrismon advanced to second on another Cunningham hit by pitch before Starling loaded the bases by getting plunked as well. McCrystal came through in the very next at bat with a base knock through the right side that scored two and gave ECU a 5-4 lead. Justin Wilcoxen capped the inning with a RBI single that left the Pirates in front by two heading to the eighth.

UNCW attempted a response in the top of the eighth when Croom and Kevin Jones singled consecutively with one out. Lunsford-Shenkman was up to the task, however, as he produced two-straight looking strikeouts to terminate the threat.

Berini began the bottom of the eighth by legging out a triple and scored on a Cunningham single to make it 7-4. Lunsford-Shenkman allowed a one-out single in the top of the ninth but was unfazed and fanned DeMartino before inducing a contest-ending fly ball to left center.

East Carolina improved to 10-1 inside Clark-LeClair Stadium and is 39-6 at the friendly confines since the start of the 2023 campaign.
The Pirates registered double-digit hits (12) for the 12th time this season, improving to 10-2 in those contests.
ECU was 3-for-4 (.750) with a runner at third and less than two outs as well as 4-for-13 (.308) with runners in scoring position.
East Carolina played its fourth game of the year against a Coastal Athletic Association opponent, improving to 3-1 in those outings (two wins over UNCW, win over Elon and loss at Campbell).
McCrystal has tallied multiple hits in four-straight games with two in tonight's contest.

Up Next: East Carolina hosts UAB for an American Athletic Conference series March 28-30 at Clark-LeClair Stadium. Thursday's opener is currently set for a 6 p.m. first pitch.