Friday, April 5
Boca Raton, Fla.
6:30 p.m.
East Carolina University
22-6, 0
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Florida Atlantic
17-10, 0
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4
5
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7
8
9
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East Carolina
1
0
2
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Florida Atlantic
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4
No. 12 ECU Takes Series Opener At Florida Atlantic
April 05, 2024 | Baseball
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Trey Yesavage registered 11 strikeouts over seven scoreless innings to help lift No. 12 East Carolina past Florida Atlantic 4-1 Friday evening in the opener of an American Athletic Conference series at the FAU Baseball Stadium.
The Pirates (22-6, 5-2 AAC) won their sixth-straight game and pulled into a tie for first place with UTSA and Wichita State as both teams dropped their series openers Friday. ECU handed the Owls (17-10, 4-3 AAC) just their fifth loss at home of the campaign.
Jacob Jenkins-Cowart provided most of the offensive output in the contest, tallying a two-run home run and sac fly to go along with a run scored. Ryley Johnson also crossed home three times as he drew a pair of walks. Emilio Gonzalez led FAU with a pair of hits.
Yesavage (6-1) turned in one of his vintage performances on the mound, scattering three hits and walking just two batters, while Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman covered the final two innings to notch his third save of the year. C.J. Williams (4-2) took the loss after surrendering three runs on three hits with four walks and five strikeouts.
The Pirate offense went to work right away in the top of the first. Johnson worked a leadoff walk before Cunningham sent a single through the right side that pushed Johnson to third. Jacob Jenkins-Cowart then took a 1-2 offering into left field that was deep enough to plate Johnson and put ECU on top by a run. Cunningham would get to third on a failed pickoff move, but a pair of strikeouts terminated the threat.
East Carolina added on to its lead in the top of the third as Johnson worked another leadoff walk and Jenkins-Cowart clubbed a 3-2 pitch well over the wall in right field for a one-out homer that made it a 3-0 contest.
Both starters really settled in from there as the next run for either side did not score until the top of the eighth. Johnson got things started with a single through the right side and stole second before Carter Cunningham drew a walk. Jenkins-Cowart then laid down a bunt that reliever Nicholas Del Prado corralled but threw past third base in an attempt to get Johnson at the base. He would score easily to extend the Pirate lead to 4-0.
Brandon Leroux laced a double to left field to lead off the bottom of the eighth and eventually scored on an Andrew McKenna RBI single but Lunsford-Shenkman induced a grounder to first to end the frame. He then worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth to complete the save.
The Pirates (22-6, 5-2 AAC) won their sixth-straight game and pulled into a tie for first place with UTSA and Wichita State as both teams dropped their series openers Friday. ECU handed the Owls (17-10, 4-3 AAC) just their fifth loss at home of the campaign.
Jacob Jenkins-Cowart provided most of the offensive output in the contest, tallying a two-run home run and sac fly to go along with a run scored. Ryley Johnson also crossed home three times as he drew a pair of walks. Emilio Gonzalez led FAU with a pair of hits.
Yesavage (6-1) turned in one of his vintage performances on the mound, scattering three hits and walking just two batters, while Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman covered the final two innings to notch his third save of the year. C.J. Williams (4-2) took the loss after surrendering three runs on three hits with four walks and five strikeouts.
⚔️Trey Day Swords⚔️
— ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) April 6, 2024
7IP | 11K's | 0R | 3H pic.twitter.com/o47XfSVHgM
The Pirate offense went to work right away in the top of the first. Johnson worked a leadoff walk before Cunningham sent a single through the right side that pushed Johnson to third. Jacob Jenkins-Cowart then took a 1-2 offering into left field that was deep enough to plate Johnson and put ECU on top by a run. Cunningham would get to third on a failed pickoff move, but a pair of strikeouts terminated the threat.
East Carolina added on to its lead in the top of the third as Johnson worked another leadoff walk and Jenkins-Cowart clubbed a 3-2 pitch well over the wall in right field for a one-out homer that made it a 3-0 contest.
Both starters really settled in from there as the next run for either side did not score until the top of the eighth. Johnson got things started with a single through the right side and stole second before Carter Cunningham drew a walk. Jenkins-Cowart then laid down a bunt that reliever Nicholas Del Prado corralled but threw past third base in an attempt to get Johnson at the base. He would score easily to extend the Pirate lead to 4-0.
Brandon Leroux laced a double to left field to lead off the bottom of the eighth and eventually scored on an Andrew McKenna RBI single but Lunsford-Shenkman induced a grounder to first to end the frame. He then worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth to complete the save.
- East Carolina improved to 3-2 all time against Florida Atlantic with all five games having occurred in Boca Raton.
- The Pirates won their eighth true road game of the season against five losses.
- Jenkins-Cowart extended his current hitting streak to nine games while Johnson has reached base safely in all 26 games he's played this year.
- ECU put five of its leadoff batters on base but was just 2-for-11 (.182) with runners in scoring position.
- Yesavage and Lunsford-Shenkman combined for 14 strikeouts, marking the 19th time this season the Pirate pitching staffed has fanned double-digit batters.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Yesavage, Trey (6-1)
L: Williams, C.J. (4-2)
S: Lunsford-Shenkman, Wyatt (3)
Batting:
2B: Wilcoxen, Justin 1
HR: Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1
RBI: Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 3
SH: Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1
SF: Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnson, Ryley 3 ; Jenkins-Cowart, Jacob 1
SB: Johnson, Ryley 2
CS: Berini, Joey 1
HBP: Chrismon, Nathan 1
PO: Berini, Joey 1
Batting:
2B: Leroux, Brando 1
RBI: McKenna, Andrew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Leroux, Brando 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
3
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
3
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF/1B
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
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