No. 15 ECU One Hits UAB To Complete Series Sweep

Saturday, March 30

Greenville, N.C.

Noon

East Carolina University

20-6, 4-2

UAB

12-15, 1-5

UAB

East Carolina

March 30, 2024 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – No. 15 East Carolina limited UAB to just a two out ninth-inning single Saturday, putting the finishing touches on an American Athletic Conference series sweep by a 7-1 score inside Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

The Pirates (20-6, 4-2 AAC) out-hit the Blazers (12-15, 1-5 AAC) 9-1 and struck out just twice in what turned out to be a sharp all-around effort.

Ethan Norby (1-0) was stellar in a spot start, picking up his first collegiate victory with a career-best four scoreless and hitless innings of work. He finished with a personal-high six strikeouts as well. Colin Daniel (4-2) was tagged with the loss after he allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits with no strikeouts in 3.1 frames.

Bristol Carter and Joey Berini anchored the lineup with a pair of two-hit performances while Carter Cunningham drove in two runs. Jake Smallwood registered the only base knock of the day for the visitors who struck out 12 times and committed three errors.

Have a day👏 @norby_ethan

4.0 IP
0 H
0 R
6 K's pic.twitter.com/5owOqEEFlG
— ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) March 30, 2024

Norby put together an efficient first inning, retiring the UAB side in order. Daniel proved shaky to start the home half of the frame, hitting both Ryley Johnson and Cunningham to work into some early trouble. Jacob Jenkins-Cowart delivered the first run of the game via an RBI single, and Ryan McCrystal added another with a sacrifice fly to leave ECU in front 2-0 after one complete.

Berini would lead off the bottom of the second with a single up the middle before eventually scoring on a Cunningham RBI single to make it 3-0. The Pirates took advantage of two Blazer defensive miscues in the third to extend the lead to 4-0 as the pitching staff kept things moving through the middle innings.

East Carolina built on its advantage in the sixth as Berini and Dixon Williams drew a pair of leadoff walks and Cunningham eventually plated Berini with a sacrifice fly to account for the Pirates' fifth run of the contest. Carter and Berini came through again in the seventh with an RBI double and run-scoring single to push the Purple and Gold ahead 7-0.

Seeking to finish the job in the top of the ninth, Erik Ritchie got two quick outs with a grounder to third and swinging strikeout. A hit by pitch and walk set the stage for Smallwood to lace an RBI single into left center but it would prove nothing more than a consolation run as Ritchie coolly induced another grounder to third for the final out of the series.

East Carolina improved to 13-1 inside Clark-LeClair Stadium and is 42-6 at the friendly confines since the start of the 2023 campaign.
The Pirates are now 31-5 in the all-time series with UAB and have defeated the Blazers in 111-straight games.
ECU polished off its 17th AAC series sweep since the start of the 2019 season.
East Carolina allowed UAB to score in just four of 27 offensive innings over the weekend.
The Pirate pitching staff registered double-digit strikeouts (12) for the 18th time this season.

Up Next: East Carolina heads over to Raleigh Tuesday evening for a non-conference contest with nationally ranked NC State. First pitch inside Doak Field at Dail Park is slated for 6 p.m.