No. 12 ECU Clinches Series With 8-6 Win At FAU

Sunday, April 7

Boca Raton, Fla.

Noon

East Carolina University

23-7, 6-3

Florida Atlantic

18-11, 5-4

East Carolina

Florida Atlantic

April 07, 2024 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

BOCA RATON, Fla. – No. 12 East Carolina rallied from an early three-run deficit and scored eight unanswered runs before holding off Florida Atlantic 8-6 Sunday afternoon to clinch a quality American Athletic Conference road series victory at the FAU Baseball Stadium.

The Pirates (23-7, 6-3 AAC) stayed within a game of UTSA for first place in the league standings through three weekends of conference play while the Owls (18-11, 5-4 AAC) dropped two games back of the Roadrunners.

ECU out-hit FAU 10-5 and limited the Owls to just one base knock after the second inning as the Pirate pitching staff allowed Florida Atlantic to score in just two frames and registered nine strikeouts.

Jake Hunter (2-2) put in a stellar relief effort to earn the victory, tossing 4.1 hitless innings while surrendering just one earned run with four strikeouts. Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman was also spectacular once again, allowing just one hit in covering the last three frames without giving up a run to earn his fourth save of the campaign. Braden Ostrander (0-3) was the losing pitcher as he was tagged for four runs (three earned) on three hits with no walks or strikeouts.

Bristol Carter was the lone East Carolina batter to tally multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI. Carter Cunningham also drove in two runs. John Schroeder paced the Owls with two hits and two RBI.

Leaving Paradise with the series win 🤟🏴‍☠️ pic.twitter.com/HdttDR1TXb
— ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) April 7, 2024

Florida Atlantic took advantage of a pair of Pirate defensive miscues in the bottom of the second, scoring three unearned runs to jump out to a 3-0 advantage. Unfazed, ECU began to chip away in the top of the third. Joey Berini ripped the first pitch of the frame down the right field line for a double and promptly scored on a Carter RBI single.

East Carolina was able to knot the score in the top of the fourth. Jacob Jenkins-Cowart singled up the middle to lead off the inning, advanced to second on a groundout and to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a Colby Wallace single to center. Justin Wilcoxen kept the line moving with a sharp single to right that pushed Wallace to third and Berini delivered a game-tying sac fly to right field.

The Pirates seized control in the top of the fifth, jumping all over Ostrander. Dixon Williams sparked the charge with a leadoff single and Ryley Johnson blistered a 1-0 offering off Ostrander's glove. Williams would move to third on a throwing error on the play before Cunningham roped a two-run single to center to give the Purple and Gold a 5-3 advantage. An error kept the rally going and it was Ryan McCrystal's turn to contribute as he laced a single to right that plated Cunningham and extended the lead to three. Wilcoxen would drive home Jenkins-Cowart with a sacrifice bunt and Carter would later reach on an infield single that scored McCrystal to leave ECU ahead 8-3.
The Owls drew within two in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with a walk and two hit batters before a wild pitch sliced their deficit to four and a two-run single reduced the Pirate lead to 8-6. Lunsford-Shenkman worked out of the jam with aplomb, recording consecutive strikeouts before freezing Andrew McKenna on a full count to terminate the inning.

Florida Atlantic, needing a pair of runs to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, got off to a good start with a Nick Garagozzo leadoff walk, but Lunsford-Shenkman recovered to strike out Schroeder and induced a 6-3 double play to preserve the save.

East Carolina registered its ninth true road win of the season against six losses.
The Pirates have now won three of their last four American Athletic Conference road series dating back to the 2023 campaign.
Jenkins-Cowart extended his hitting streak to 11 games while Johnson has reached base safely in all 28 games he has appeared.
ECU took advantage of seven opportunities with a runner on third and less than two outs, registering five hits (.714). The Pirates also went 5-for-13 (.385) with runners in scoring position.
The teams combined for three errors apiece while leaving 14 total runners on base.

Up Next: East Carolina returns home Tuesday, April 9, for a non-conference matchup with Elon. First pitch from Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium is scheduled for 6 p.m.