Tuesday, April 23
Greenville, N.C.
6:00 p.m.
East Carolina University
32-8
10
vs
6
NC State
22-16
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
NC State
0
0
4
0
0
0
2
0
0
6
10
0
East Carolina
2
0
2
2
0
2
1
1
X
10
15
1
Starling Cycle Propels No. 7 ECU Past No. 21 NC State
April 23, 2024 | Baseball
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Jacob Starling made his first appearance since April 2nd count Tuesday night, hitting for the cycle to lift No. 7 East Carolina over No. 21 NC State 10-6 before a facility-record crowd of 6,054 inside Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
The Pirates (32-8) completed the season home-and-home sweep of the Wolfpack (22-16) for the first time since 2009 and have knocked off NC State five of the last seven times the teams have met in Greenville.
Starling is the first East Carolina player to hit for the cycle since Corey Thompson did so against Marshall April 30, 2010. He registered a triple in the bottom of the first, a home run in the third, a single in the fourth and a double in the eighth. Starling also finished the evening with a run scored and four RBI.
Ryley Johnson continued to produce out of the leadoff spot, extending his on base streak to 38 games with a 3-for-4 performance that included three runs scored. Carter Cunningham, Dixon Williams and Justin Wilcoxen all chipped in with two hits while Cunningham scored a trio of runs. Josh Hogue led the visitors with two hits and two RBI.
Ethan Norby (3-0) was stellar in relief, earning the win after allowing just one earned run over 4.1 innings with no walks and two strikeouts. Aaron Groller (1) also notched his first save in the Purple and Gold by covering the final two frames without surrendering a run. He ended up striking out three against no walks.
NC State threatened in the top of the first against ECU starter Erik Ritchie, but the sophomore induced a fielder's choice put out at second to keep things scoreless. The Pirates jumped on Jaxon Lucas in the home half of the frame as Johnson and Cunningham sent consecutive singles through the right side. With Johnson at third, Jacob Jenkins-Cowart plated him with a sacrifice fly to put East Carolina on the board and Starling ripped a three bagger off the wall in right center to score Cunningham and leave the Pirates ahead 2-0 after one complete.
The Wolfpack would surge ahead in the top of the third, scoring four runs on three home runs, but ECU responded right back in the bottom of the inning. Starling cleared the wall in right for a one-out solo long ball and Williams and Wilcoxen followed with singles before Bristol Carter reached on an infield single that allowed Williams to cross home from 90 feet away and tie the contest.
East Carolina plated a pair in the bottom of the fourth and would never trail again. Johnson singled to lead off and advanced to second on a Cunningham walk, paving the way for a Jenkins-Cowart sacrifice bunt that pushed the runners into scoring position. From there, Starling laced an RBI single into left center and Williams scored Cunningham on a groundout to make it 6-4.
Johnson sparked another offensive push in the bottom of the sixth with an electric leadoff triple and Cunningham kept the line moving with a double down the right field line to extend the lead to three. Starling capped the frame with a sac fly to push the Pirates ahead by four.
NC State grabbed a pair in the top of the seventh to reduce its deficit to 8-6 but Wilcoxen homered to lead off the home half of the inning to stretch the advantage back to three. The Wolfpack menaced in the top of the eighth, getting a pair of runners on base but Groller was up to the task and fanned the final two batters swinging to preserve the ECU edge.
Williams provided the game's final margin in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single and Groller took care of the rest, retiring NC State in order in the ninth with a fly ball to left, strikeout and grounder to short.
The Pirates (32-8) completed the season home-and-home sweep of the Wolfpack (22-16) for the first time since 2009 and have knocked off NC State five of the last seven times the teams have met in Greenville.
Starling is the first East Carolina player to hit for the cycle since Corey Thompson did so against Marshall April 30, 2010. He registered a triple in the bottom of the first, a home run in the third, a single in the fourth and a double in the eighth. Starling also finished the evening with a run scored and four RBI.
Ryley Johnson continued to produce out of the leadoff spot, extending his on base streak to 38 games with a 3-for-4 performance that included three runs scored. Carter Cunningham, Dixon Williams and Justin Wilcoxen all chipped in with two hits while Cunningham scored a trio of runs. Josh Hogue led the visitors with two hits and two RBI.
Ethan Norby (3-0) was stellar in relief, earning the win after allowing just one earned run over 4.1 innings with no walks and two strikeouts. Aaron Groller (1) also notched his first save in the Purple and Gold by covering the final two frames without surrendering a run. He ended up striking out three against no walks.
JACOB STARLING HITS FOR THE CYCLE
— ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) April 24, 2024
ARE YOU SERIOUS!? @StarlingJacob pic.twitter.com/8a71n9mHgl
NC State threatened in the top of the first against ECU starter Erik Ritchie, but the sophomore induced a fielder's choice put out at second to keep things scoreless. The Pirates jumped on Jaxon Lucas in the home half of the frame as Johnson and Cunningham sent consecutive singles through the right side. With Johnson at third, Jacob Jenkins-Cowart plated him with a sacrifice fly to put East Carolina on the board and Starling ripped a three bagger off the wall in right center to score Cunningham and leave the Pirates ahead 2-0 after one complete.
The Wolfpack would surge ahead in the top of the third, scoring four runs on three home runs, but ECU responded right back in the bottom of the inning. Starling cleared the wall in right for a one-out solo long ball and Williams and Wilcoxen followed with singles before Bristol Carter reached on an infield single that allowed Williams to cross home from 90 feet away and tie the contest.
East Carolina plated a pair in the bottom of the fourth and would never trail again. Johnson singled to lead off and advanced to second on a Cunningham walk, paving the way for a Jenkins-Cowart sacrifice bunt that pushed the runners into scoring position. From there, Starling laced an RBI single into left center and Williams scored Cunningham on a groundout to make it 6-4.
Johnson sparked another offensive push in the bottom of the sixth with an electric leadoff triple and Cunningham kept the line moving with a double down the right field line to extend the lead to three. Starling capped the frame with a sac fly to push the Pirates ahead by four.
NC State grabbed a pair in the top of the seventh to reduce its deficit to 8-6 but Wilcoxen homered to lead off the home half of the inning to stretch the advantage back to three. The Wolfpack menaced in the top of the eighth, getting a pair of runners on base but Groller was up to the task and fanned the final two batters swinging to preserve the ECU edge.
Williams provided the game's final margin in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single and Groller took care of the rest, retiring NC State in order in the ninth with a fly ball to left, strikeout and grounder to short.
- The record crowd marked the seventh time East Carolina has attracted more than 5,000 fans to a game this season.
- The Pirates won their eighth-straight midweek contest to improve to 8-2 in 2024.
- ECU registered its 15th come-from-behind victory of the year and the third straight after rallying past Wichita State twice in a doubleheader last Saturday.
- Not only did Johnson extend his on base streak, but he has also hit safely in 13-straight contests.
- The Pirates were 5-for-6 (.833) with a runner on third and less than two outs as well as 7-for-17 (.412) with runners on base.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Norby, Ethan (3-0)
L: Jacob Dudan (2-2)
S: Groller, Aaron (1)
Batting:
2B: Garrett Pennington 1 ; Luke Nixon 1
HR: Josh Hogue 1 ; Alec Makarewicz 1 ; Jacob Cozart 1
RBI: Josh Hogue 2 ; Alec Makarewicz 1 ; Jacob Cozart 2
SF: Jacob Cozart 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Garrett Pennington 1 ; Josh Hogue 2 ; Alec Makarewicz 2 ; Jacob Cozart 1
SB: Luke Nixon 1
HBP: Eli Serrano III 1 ; Matt Heavner 1
Batting:
2B: Cunningham, Carter 1 ; Starling, Jacob 1
3B: Johnson, Ryley 1 ; Starling, Jacob 1
HR: Starling, Jacob 1 ; Wilcoxen, Justin 1
RBI: Cunningham, Carter 1 ; Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1 ; Starling, Jacob 4 ; Williams, Dixon 2 ; Wilcoxen, Justin 1 ; Carter, Bristol 1
SH: Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1
SF: Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1 ; Starling, Jacob 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnson, Ryley 3 ; Cunningham, Carter 3 ; Starling, Jacob 1 ; Chrismon, Nathan 1 ; Williams, Dixon 1 ; Wilcoxen, Justin 1
HBP: Johnson, Ryley 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
4
RBI
4
AB
4
R
3
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballOF/1B
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
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