Sunday, April 28
Memphis, Tenn.
2:00 p.m.
East Carolina University
35-8, 14-4
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Memphis
18-26, 6-12
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East Carolina
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Memphis
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No. 7 East Carolina Brooms Memphis Via 8-3 Victory
April 28, 2024 | Baseball
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Chris Kahler produced a sparkling relief effort out of the bullpen and No. 7 East Carolina scored eight unanswered runs in the middle to late innings to down Memphis 8-3 and complete the road series sweep Sunday afternoon at FedExPark.
The Pirates (35-8, 14-4 AAC) exit the weekend with a two-game lead atop the American Athletic Conference standings as UTSA lost the first two games of its series with Rice before salvaging the finale Sunday afternoon.
ECU has won eight-straight games, including its last five on the road, while reaching 35 victories the fastest it has in 20 years when the 2004 squad was 37-6 through 43 contests. The Purple and Gold has also swept two-straight AAC series and has won five straight after dropping its opening set at UTSA back in March.
The Pirates were all around impressive during the weekend, outscoring their hosts 36-6 while hitting .407 with nine doubles and 11 home runs. On the mound, East Carolina put up a 1.80 earned run average while allowing the Tigers to bat just .200 and forcing Memphis to strike out 29 times.
Dixon Williams went a career-best 4-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI to help pace the East Carolina offense while Carter Cunningham notched two runs scored and three RBI thanks in part to a two-home run effort. Daunte Stuart racked up three hits to lead the home side.
Jake Hunter (3-2) earned the win, tossing 2.2 scoreless innings with a walk and four strikeouts. Kahler was stellar in relief, limiting the Tigers to just one earned run over the final four frames and striking out three to earn his first save of the campaign. Caden Robinson (1-4) was tagged with the loss after allowing three earned runs on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 5.0 frames of work.
Memphis capitalized on a fielding error to begin the bottom of the first as Jake Curtis reached on the miscue and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly. The Tigers added another in the home half of the second via a Fernandes one-out RBI single and threatened further in the third, loading the bases with no outs. However, Hunter entered the game and left all three runners on with a pair of strikeouts and ground ball to third.
ECU got on the board in the top of the fourth, slicing the deficit to one when Williams clubbed a two-out solo home run over the left field wall. The Pirates then surged into the lead in the fifth as Ryley Johnson reached on an infield single and Cunningham unloaded on a full count offering and launched it well out of the park to make it a 3-2 contest. Cunningham did it again in the seventh, taking one over the left field fence and into the East Carolina bullpen for a solo shot and a 4-2 Pirate upper hand.
With Kahler working on the mound, ECU scored five runs over the final three innings while Memphis turned in a consolation solo homer in the bottom of the ninth to account for the final score. Justin Wilcoxen began the top of the eighth with a double to deep left before Bristol Carter showed bunt but pulled it back and beat the shift with a single through the right side that plated Wilcoxen to make it 5-2. Just a few batters later and with Carter at third following a stolen base and groundout, Johnson delivered an RBI single of his own to push the margin to four.
Williams sparked one last rally for the Pirates in the top of the ninth with a two-out single to right center and Wilcoxen worked a 2-0 count before hammering the next pitch to right field and over the barrier for an exclamation point two-run blast. Kahler finished off Memphis for good in the home half of the inning, inducing consecutive groundouts to end the game.
The Pirates (35-8, 14-4 AAC) exit the weekend with a two-game lead atop the American Athletic Conference standings as UTSA lost the first two games of its series with Rice before salvaging the finale Sunday afternoon.
ECU has won eight-straight games, including its last five on the road, while reaching 35 victories the fastest it has in 20 years when the 2004 squad was 37-6 through 43 contests. The Purple and Gold has also swept two-straight AAC series and has won five straight after dropping its opening set at UTSA back in March.
The Pirates were all around impressive during the weekend, outscoring their hosts 36-6 while hitting .407 with nine doubles and 11 home runs. On the mound, East Carolina put up a 1.80 earned run average while allowing the Tigers to bat just .200 and forcing Memphis to strike out 29 times.
Dixon Williams went a career-best 4-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI to help pace the East Carolina offense while Carter Cunningham notched two runs scored and three RBI thanks in part to a two-home run effort. Daunte Stuart racked up three hits to lead the home side.
Jake Hunter (3-2) earned the win, tossing 2.2 scoreless innings with a walk and four strikeouts. Kahler was stellar in relief, limiting the Tigers to just one earned run over the final four frames and striking out three to earn his first save of the campaign. Caden Robinson (1-4) was tagged with the loss after allowing three earned runs on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 5.0 frames of work.
Major shoutout to the bullpen for coming up big this weekend in Memphis 🤟🏴☠️
— ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) April 28, 2024
16.1 IP | 16 K's | 4 ER pic.twitter.com/ILc0zyLFtq
Memphis capitalized on a fielding error to begin the bottom of the first as Jake Curtis reached on the miscue and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly. The Tigers added another in the home half of the second via a Fernandes one-out RBI single and threatened further in the third, loading the bases with no outs. However, Hunter entered the game and left all three runners on with a pair of strikeouts and ground ball to third.
ECU got on the board in the top of the fourth, slicing the deficit to one when Williams clubbed a two-out solo home run over the left field wall. The Pirates then surged into the lead in the fifth as Ryley Johnson reached on an infield single and Cunningham unloaded on a full count offering and launched it well out of the park to make it a 3-2 contest. Cunningham did it again in the seventh, taking one over the left field fence and into the East Carolina bullpen for a solo shot and a 4-2 Pirate upper hand.
With Kahler working on the mound, ECU scored five runs over the final three innings while Memphis turned in a consolation solo homer in the bottom of the ninth to account for the final score. Justin Wilcoxen began the top of the eighth with a double to deep left before Bristol Carter showed bunt but pulled it back and beat the shift with a single through the right side that plated Wilcoxen to make it 5-2. Just a few batters later and with Carter at third following a stolen base and groundout, Johnson delivered an RBI single of his own to push the margin to four.
Williams sparked one last rally for the Pirates in the top of the ninth with a two-out single to right center and Wilcoxen worked a 2-0 count before hammering the next pitch to right field and over the barrier for an exclamation point two-run blast. Kahler finished off Memphis for good in the home half of the inning, inducing consecutive groundouts to end the game.
- East Carolina won its 10th-straight decision over Memphis and has captured seven-straight road series victories over the Tigers dating back to 2008.
- Johnson has reached base safely in 41-straight games and extended his current hitting streak to 16.
- The Pirates rapped out double-digit hits for the 12th-straight contest.
- ECU improved to an impressive 13-6 in road games this season.
- The Pirates went 7-for-14 (.500) with two outs on the board.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hunter, Jake (3-2)
L: ROBINSON, CADEN (1-4)
S: Kahler, Chris (1)
Batting:
2B: Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1 ; Wilcoxen, Justin 1
HR: Cunningham, Carter 2 ; Williams, Dixon 1 ; Wilcoxen, Justin 1
RBI: Johnson, Ryley 1 ; Cunningham, Carter 3 ; Williams, Dixon 1 ; Wilcoxen, Justin 2 ; Carter, Bristol 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnson, Ryley 1 ; Cunningham, Carter 2 ; Williams, Dixon 2 ; Wilcoxen, Justin 2 ; Carter, Bristol 1
SB: Carter, Bristol 1
CS: Carter, Bristol 1
HBP: Wilcoxen, Justin 1 ; Carter, Bristol 1
Batting:
2B: SEALS, PIERRE 1
HR: BASKIN, AUSTIN 1
RBI: BASKIN, AUSTIN 1 ; SEALS, PIERRE 1 ; FERNANDES, ALEX 1
SF: SEALS, PIERRE 1
Base Running:
RUNS: CURTIS, JAKE 1 ; BASKIN, AUSTIN 1 ; COX, SHANE 1
HBP: LEAVENGOOD, PIERCE 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
4
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballOF/1B
/ Baseball
RHP
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/ Baseball
RHP
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/ BaseballINF
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