East Carolina University
34-8, 13-4
Memphis
18-25, 6-11
No. 7 ECU Soars Past Memphis 14-3 To Secure Series
April 27, 2024 | Baseball
The Pirates (34-8, 13-4 AAC) opened up a two-game lead for first place in the league standings as UTSA dropped its second-straight decision at Rice earlier in the day. The Tigers dropped to 18-25 overall and 6-11 in conference play.
Beal (4-2) turned in his longest outing of the campaign to earn the win on the bump, scattering five hits and allowing just one earned run with four strikeouts over six innings. Seth Garner (2-1) took his first loss of the season, surrendering eight runs (four earned) on seven hits with four walks and no strikeouts.
Bristol Carter exploded for a career-high four hits, adding a run scored and RBI, while Jacob Starling went 2-for-6 with a run scored and five RBI. Ryan McCrystal also chipped in with a trio of hits and two runs scored. Pierre Seals paced the home side with a pair of base knocks.
Shoutout to the freshman for having a career high 4 hits today😤🏴☠️@bristol_carter | #PIRATES pic.twitter.com/sCsV4mUJjR
— ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) April 28, 2024
ECU struck for an early run in the top of the first. Ryley Johnson and Carter Cunningham worked consecutive walks to lead off the contest before moving into scoring position following a fly out to left. Starling would then deliver an RBI groundout to plate Johnson and a fly ball to right was handled by Pierre Seals to end the half inning.
Two straight one-out singles in the top of the second set the stage for the Pirates to extend their advantage as Johnson shot a two-out RBI single through the left side the plate Wilcoxen and push East Carolina ahead 2-0. Memphis responded in the home half though, taking advantage of three hit batters and receiving a two out, two-run single off the bat of Shane Cox that knotted the score at two.
As they did yesterday, the Pirates produced a massive inning – this time in the top of the fourth. With two outs and the bases clean, Carter reached on an infield single before Joey Berini got a hold of a 2-1 pitch and sent it sailing over the left field fence to give ECU a 4-2 cushion. Cunningham followed with an RBI single and Starling later connected on a 1-0 offering, tanking it into the parking lot in left center to extend the edge to 8-2. Dixon Williams added an RBI single of his own and Carter delivered an RBI single in his second at bat of the frame to leave the Pirates with a 10-2 lead.
Jacob Compton pulled a run back for the home side in the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run, but East Carolina plated two in the eighth and another pair in the ninth to complete the scoring. McCrystal and Williams produced back-to-back long balls to lead off the eighth while Jenkins-Cowart notched the Pirates' 13th run in the form of an RBI groundout and Starling ripped an RBI double down the left field line. Jaden Winter pitched a scoreless home half of the ninth to end the contest.
- East Carolina tallied its 10th series win of the season in 11 attempts and has captured five-straight in league play.
- The Pirates improved to 48-19 all-time against Memphis and won their ninth-straight decision over the Tigers.
- ECU ran its record to 12-6 in true road games and 5-3 in AAC road affairs.
- Johnson extended his on base streak to 40 games and his hitting streak to 15 games.
- The Pirates notched double-digit runs for the fifth-straight outing and double-digit hits for the 11th-straight time.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Beal, Danny (4-2)
L: GARNER, S. (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Johnson, Ryley 1 ; Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1 ; Starling, Jacob 1 ; McCrystal, Ryan 1
HR: Starling, Jacob 1 ; McCrystal, Ryan 1 ; Williams, Dixon 1 ; Berini, Joey 1
RBI: Johnson, Ryley 1 ; Cunningham, Carter 1 ; Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1 ; Starling, Jacob 5 ; McCrystal, Ryan 1 ; Williams, Dixon 2 ; Carter, Bristol 1 ; Berini, Joey 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnson, Ryley 3 ; Cunningham, Carter 2 ; Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1 ; Starling, Jacob 1 ; McCrystal, Ryan 2 ; Williams, Dixon 2 ; Wilcoxen, Justin 1 ; Carter, Bristol 1 ; Berini, Joey 1
SB: Johnson, Ryley 1
HBP: Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1
Batting:
2B: BASKIN, A. 1 ; DuBOSE, B. 1
HR: COMPTON, J. 1
RBI: COMPTON, J. 1 ; COX, SH. 2
Base Running:
RUNS: STUART, D. 1 ; SEALS, P. 1 ; COMPTON, J. 1
CS: SEALS, P. 1
HBP: MARCY, W. 1 ; STUART, D. 1 ; DAVIS, R. 1
