ECU falls to No. 24 Coastal Carolina in extra innings, Chanticleers take series

by | Mar 10, 2025

East Carolina’s baseball team dropped the series finale with No. 24 Coastal Carolina, 4-3 in 10 innings, on Sunday.

ECU drops to 7-8 overall, leaving 14 men on base and missing on several possible scoring opportunities. The Pirates did score twice in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings.

Below is a full report from ECU Sports Information with videos from Pirate Radio.

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Photo credit: Walker Barron (ECU Sports Information photo)

By ECUPirates.com

East Carolina scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings Sunday, but a solo home run in the 10th propelled No. 24 Coastal Carolina to a 4-3 victory in the series finale and rubber game inside Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

The Pirates (7-8) had their opportunities to push across runs in multiple frames but could not capitalize and ended up leaving 14 on base.

Walker Barron led five ECU batters who recorded double-digit hits with a 3-for-5 performance, adding a run scored and RBI. Blake Barthol and Jake Brooks paced the Chanticleers (12-4) with two hits apiece. Jacob Morrison (2-0) picked up the win after allowing one run on three hits in his lone inning of work while Jake Hunter was saddled with the tough-luck loss, giving up just one run on two hits with three strikeouts in three frames. Dominick Carbone retired the final batter of the day to lock up his first save of the year.

Barron singled to left to begin the top of the second before moving to third on an Austin Irby knock through the right side. He then scored via a Braxton Tramel groundout to leave the Pirates ahead 1-0 through two complete.

Coastal Carolina broke onto the scoreboard in the top of the sixth as a pair of walks and a hit batter loaded the bases with two outs and Books drove in Barthol with a single to shallow center. The Chanticleers added single runs in the seventh and eighth innings to assume a 3-1 advantage heading to the bottom of the ninth.

Braden Burress put East Carolina on the front foot with a leadoff single and Dixon Williams laced a single to left center to put runners on the corners with no outs. Jack Herring then put a ball in play with one out that allowed Burress to score and cut the Coastal Carolina lead to one. Barron then hit a laser that ricocheted off the Chanticleer reliever on the mound and far enough away to allow Williams to cross home from third and tie things up. Irby followed with an infield single to short, pushing Barron into scoring position, but a fly ball to right was handled for the final out.

Blagen Pado put the visitors on top again with a leadoff home run in the 10th and the Pirates mustered a two-out baserunner in the home half of the inning, however a grounder to second was tossed to first to end the game.

Postgame Notes Graphic

  • Coastal Carolina now leads the all-time series with East Carolina by a 10-7 count.
  • The Pirates were just 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position.
  • East Carolina put six of its leadoff batters on base.
  • Williams extended his current on base streak to 11.
  • The Pirates played their sixth game of the season against a nationally ranked opponent.

Up Next: East Carolina visits VCU March 11-12 for a pair of midweek contests. Both games will stream live on ESPN+.

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