Saturday, April 13
Greenville, N.C.
4:00 p.m.
East Carolina University
27-7, 8-3
5
vs
1
Charlotte
15-20, 4-7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Charlotte
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
5
0
East Carolina
0
0
3
0
0
2
0
0
X
5
10
0
No. 9 ECU Stymies Charlotte To Secure Series
April 13, 2024 | Baseball
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Ryley Johnson went 3-for-3 while Zach Root and Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman teamed up to limit Charlotte to one run and four hits Saturday as No. 9 East Carolina clinched its third-straight American Athletic Conference series with a 5-1 victory in front of a sell-out crowd of 5,998 at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium.
The Pirates (27-7, 8-3 AAC) moved into a first-place tie with UTSA in the league standings thanks to Memphis' 12-5 win over the Roadrunners earlier in the day. The 49ers fell to 15-20 overall and 4-7 in conference play.
Johnson added two runs scored and a walk to his ledger while Jacob Jenkins-Cowart and Bristol Carter rapped out two base hits apiece. Jenkins-Cowart also drove in three runs for good measure. Pinch hitter AJ Bianchina registered the only RBI for the visitors and was just one of four Charlotte players to muster up a single.
Zach Root (5-0) kept his unbeaten record intact, surrendering just one earned run in five innings with four strikeouts. Lunsford-Shenkman notched his fifth save of the campaign by tossing four scoreless relief frames and tallying a career-high eight strikeouts. Chase Carson (1-1) took the loss, allowing three runs on six hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
On a day that did not lend itself to much offense, ECU was the first to scratch the scoreboard with a three spot in the bottom of the third. Dixon Williams singled with one out and Johnson followed with an infield base knock of his own. A groundout moved the runners into scoring position for Jenkins-Cowart who took a 1-1 pitch and grounded it through the right side for a two-run single. After Ryan McCrystal singled up the middle, Carter laced the first pitch he saw into right to score Jenkins-Cowart and leave the Purple and Gold ahead 3-0 moving to the fourth.
The 49ers capitalized on a pair of walks to begin the top of the sixth as, following a pair of Lunsford-Shenkman strikeouts, Bianchina roped a single up the middle and through to account for Charlotte's lone run of the series thus far.
East Carolina answered right away in the home half of the frame. Colby Wallace worked a leadoff walk and Johnson put down a one-out bunt single to get some traffic on the base paths. Cunningham would score Wallace with a single to center before Jenkins-Cowart laid down a textbook bunt single into no man's land that plated Wallace to account for what would eventually be the final score.
Neither side really got anything going in the remaining frames as Lunsford-Shenkman produced five strikeouts over the final three innings.
The Pirates (27-7, 8-3 AAC) moved into a first-place tie with UTSA in the league standings thanks to Memphis' 12-5 win over the Roadrunners earlier in the day. The 49ers fell to 15-20 overall and 4-7 in conference play.
Johnson added two runs scored and a walk to his ledger while Jacob Jenkins-Cowart and Bristol Carter rapped out two base hits apiece. Jenkins-Cowart also drove in three runs for good measure. Pinch hitter AJ Bianchina registered the only RBI for the visitors and was just one of four Charlotte players to muster up a single.
Zach Root (5-0) kept his unbeaten record intact, surrendering just one earned run in five innings with four strikeouts. Lunsford-Shenkman notched his fifth save of the campaign by tossing four scoreless relief frames and tallying a career-high eight strikeouts. Chase Carson (1-1) took the loss, allowing three runs on six hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
Nothing better🤟🏴☠️ pic.twitter.com/Tbk0VeoBvz
— ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) April 13, 2024
On a day that did not lend itself to much offense, ECU was the first to scratch the scoreboard with a three spot in the bottom of the third. Dixon Williams singled with one out and Johnson followed with an infield base knock of his own. A groundout moved the runners into scoring position for Jenkins-Cowart who took a 1-1 pitch and grounded it through the right side for a two-run single. After Ryan McCrystal singled up the middle, Carter laced the first pitch he saw into right to score Jenkins-Cowart and leave the Purple and Gold ahead 3-0 moving to the fourth.
The 49ers capitalized on a pair of walks to begin the top of the sixth as, following a pair of Lunsford-Shenkman strikeouts, Bianchina roped a single up the middle and through to account for Charlotte's lone run of the series thus far.
East Carolina answered right away in the home half of the frame. Colby Wallace worked a leadoff walk and Johnson put down a one-out bunt single to get some traffic on the base paths. Cunningham would score Wallace with a single to center before Jenkins-Cowart laid down a textbook bunt single into no man's land that plated Wallace to account for what would eventually be the final score.
Neither side really got anything going in the remaining frames as Lunsford-Shenkman produced five strikeouts over the final three innings.
- Johnson extended his on-base streak to 32 games, the program's longest since Connor Norby put together a 56-game streak during the 2021 campaign.
- Jenkins-Cowart notched his third outfield assist of the season in the top of the third as he caught Rene Lastres at second base attempting to stretch a leadoff single into a double.
- East Carolina improved to 36-5 all time against Charlotte and has won 15-straight meetings in the series.
- The Pirates remained white hot at home this year, stretching their record inside the friendly confines to 17-1.
- The 5,998 attendance mark represents the third largest in facility history.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Root, Zach (5-0)
L: Chase Carson (1-1)
S: Lunsford-Shenkman, Wyatt (5)
Batting:
RBI: AJ Bianchina 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Thad Ector 1
SB: Johnny Sutryk 1
HBP: Johnny Sutryk 1
PO: Dante DeFranco 1
Batting:
RBI: Cunningham, Carter 1 ; Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 3 ; Carter, Bristol 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnson, Ryley 2 ; Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1 ; Wallace, Colby 1 ; Williams, Dixon 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
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/ Baseball
INF/RHP
/ Baseball
INF
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