Tuesday, April 2
Raleigh, N.C.
6:00 p.m.
East Carolina University
21-6
12
at
4
NC State
18-8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
East Carolina
0
2
2
0
0
3
2
3
0
12
13
2
NC State
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
4
5
3
No. 12 ECU Snags 12-4 Victory At No. 19 NC State
April 02, 2024 | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. – No. 12 East Carolina picked up a statement road victory Tuesday evening, downing No. 19 NC State 12-4 inside Doak Field at Dail Park.
The Pirates (21-6) registered their first win over the Wolfpack (18-8) in Raleigh since 2009, exploding for 13 hits of which four went for extra bases in the form of two doubles and two home runs.
Danny Beal (3-1) picked up the win in relief with 2.2 scoreless innings of work, though starter Aaron Groller was absolutely nails in his first start of the campaign with three scoreless and hitless frames and three strikeouts against no walks. Ryan Marohn (2-1) took his first loss of the season, surrendering four runs (three earned) on six hits with a walk and strikeout in 4.1 innings.
Five different ECU batters recorded multiple hits, led by Carter Cunningham who was 3-for-5 with three runs scored and one driven in. Jacob Starling and Dixon Williams also chipped in with two hits and a pair of RBI each. Jacob Cozart paced the home side with a hit and two RBI.
With one out in the top of the second, Bristol Carter and Justin Wilcoxen both singled before moving into scoring position on a groundout. Williams then fouled a few pitches off before lacing a two-run single into right center to put the Pirates on top early.
ECU added on to the lead in the top of the third. Cunningham led off with a single to center before getting to third on a groundout and Starling base knock. Ryan McCrystal then drove in Cunningham with a textbook sacrifice bunt and Carter lined a ground ball to short that eluded Brandon Butterworth and allowed Starling to cross home to extend the East Carolina upper hand to 4-0.
NC State threatened in the bottom of the fifth as Josh Hogue worked a leadoff walk and Eli Serrano III laced a single through the right side. Beal proceeded to fan Alex Sosa and induced a fly ball to center for the second out. He would hit Chase Nixon to load the bases, but Joey Berini made a nice play to snag a liner and terminate the threat.
The Pirates came up with two-out magic in the top of the sixth. With the bases clean, Williams laced a double down the left field line, stole third and scored on a fielding error to make it 5-0. Cunningham then obliterated the first pitch he saw well over the right field wall and into the night to push the ECU advantage to seven.
The Wolfpack threatened to answer in the home half of the frame when Garrett Pennington roped a leadoff double into the left center gap, but Erik Ritchie was able to hold NCSU off of the board by corralling a grounder back to the mound with the bases loaded for the final out.
Carter gave the Pirates an eight-run lead in the seventh with an RBI groundout that scored Starling before Wilcoxen clubbed a solo blast to left that fell into the ECU bullpen and extended the Purple and Gold upper hand to 9-0. The Wolfpack would score four runs over the final three frames, but the Pirates added three in the top of the eighth via a two-run Starling double and failed pickoff attempt with Ryley Johnson scoring from third to put the finishing touches on the victory.
The Pirates (21-6) registered their first win over the Wolfpack (18-8) in Raleigh since 2009, exploding for 13 hits of which four went for extra bases in the form of two doubles and two home runs.
Danny Beal (3-1) picked up the win in relief with 2.2 scoreless innings of work, though starter Aaron Groller was absolutely nails in his first start of the campaign with three scoreless and hitless frames and three strikeouts against no walks. Ryan Marohn (2-1) took his first loss of the season, surrendering four runs (three earned) on six hits with a walk and strikeout in 4.1 innings.
Five different ECU batters recorded multiple hits, led by Carter Cunningham who was 3-for-5 with three runs scored and one driven in. Jacob Starling and Dixon Williams also chipped in with two hits and a pair of RBI each. Jacob Cozart paced the home side with a hit and two RBI.
Statement win. 🤟🏴☠️ pic.twitter.com/iFYxn4Jz1S
— ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) April 3, 2024
With one out in the top of the second, Bristol Carter and Justin Wilcoxen both singled before moving into scoring position on a groundout. Williams then fouled a few pitches off before lacing a two-run single into right center to put the Pirates on top early.
ECU added on to the lead in the top of the third. Cunningham led off with a single to center before getting to third on a groundout and Starling base knock. Ryan McCrystal then drove in Cunningham with a textbook sacrifice bunt and Carter lined a ground ball to short that eluded Brandon Butterworth and allowed Starling to cross home to extend the East Carolina upper hand to 4-0.
NC State threatened in the bottom of the fifth as Josh Hogue worked a leadoff walk and Eli Serrano III laced a single through the right side. Beal proceeded to fan Alex Sosa and induced a fly ball to center for the second out. He would hit Chase Nixon to load the bases, but Joey Berini made a nice play to snag a liner and terminate the threat.
The Pirates came up with two-out magic in the top of the sixth. With the bases clean, Williams laced a double down the left field line, stole third and scored on a fielding error to make it 5-0. Cunningham then obliterated the first pitch he saw well over the right field wall and into the night to push the ECU advantage to seven.
The Wolfpack threatened to answer in the home half of the frame when Garrett Pennington roped a leadoff double into the left center gap, but Erik Ritchie was able to hold NCSU off of the board by corralling a grounder back to the mound with the bases loaded for the final out.
Carter gave the Pirates an eight-run lead in the seventh with an RBI groundout that scored Starling before Wilcoxen clubbed a solo blast to left that fell into the ECU bullpen and extended the Purple and Gold upper hand to 9-0. The Wolfpack would score four runs over the final three frames, but the Pirates added three in the top of the eighth via a two-run Starling double and failed pickoff attempt with Ryley Johnson scoring from third to put the finishing touches on the victory.
- East Carolina improved to 7-5 in true road games and has captured three-straight midweek road wins over in-state opponents UNCW, Elon and NC State.
- The Pirates picked up their third victory over a ranked opponent this season and are 3-1 against Top 25 foes.
- McCrystal and Jacob Jenkins-Cowart extended their respective hitting streaks to nine and eight games. Johnson has also reached base safely in all 25 contests in which he has played this year.
- East Carolina is now 11-2 this season when tallying double-digit hits and 7-2 when recording multiple home runs in a game.
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The Pirates converted all three of their offensive opportunities with a runner at third and less than two outs.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Beal, Danny (3-1)
L: Ryan Marohn (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Starling, Jacob 1 ; Williams, Dixon 1
HR: Cunningham, Carter 1 ; Wilcoxen, Justin 1
RBI: Cunningham, Carter 2 ; Starling, Jacob 2 ; McCrystal, Ryan 1 ; Carter, Bristol 1 ; Wilcoxen, Justin 1 ; Williams, Dixon 2
SH: McCrystal, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnson, Ryley 2 ; Cunningham, Carter 3 ; Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1 ; Starling, Jacob 2 ; Carter, Bristol 1 ; Wilcoxen, Justin 2 ; Williams, Dixon 1
SB: Starling, Jacob 1 ; Williams, Dixon 1
CS: Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1
HBP: Starling, Jacob 1 ; McCrystal, Ryan 1
Batting:
2B: Garrett Pennington 1
RBI: Alec Makarewicz 1 ; Jacob Cozart 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Alec Makarewicz 1 ; Chase Nixon 1 ; Luke Nixon 2
HBP: Brandon Butterworth 1 ; Chase Nixon 1 ; Luke Nixon 2
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
3
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
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LHP
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OF
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LHP
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INF
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