It was a big night for the ECU baseball team and particularly for John Collins and Alex Bouche.
Buccaneer Scoreboard – Paint It! The bats come alive for the Pirates resulting in a 12-2 run-rule victory for ECU Baseball over VCU. pic.twitter.com/or5FaYQDqg
— Pirate Radio ☠️ (@PR927FM) March 12, 2025
The two combined for six hits and six RBI as the Pirates beat Virginia Commonwealth 12-2 in eight innings. The win puts ECU at 8-8 going into today’s series finale at 3 p.m.
Below is a full report from ECU Sports Information with videos from Pirate Radio and the ECU baseball X account.
Check out Pirate Radio
Website | Facebook | X (formerly Twitter) | Instagram | YouTube
=====
Photo credit: John Collins (ECU Sports Information photo)
RICHMOND, Va. – John Collins and Alex Bouche combined for six hits and six RBI as East Carolina powered its way to a 12-2 eight-inning victory over host VCU Tuesday night at The Diamond.
🏴☠️⚾️💣 BIG BOMB JOHN COLLINS and ECU Baseball leads VCU 4-1 in the third inning. pic.twitter.com/MXQM4pCIOu
— Pirate Radio ☠️ (@PR927FM) March 11, 2025
The Pirates (8-8) rapped out nine hits and took advantage of four Ram (4-11) errors to complete their second run-rule triumph of the campaign.
Tyler Brashear (1-0) was credited with his first collegiate victory, throwing a clean eighth, while VCU starter Max Moore (0-1) was tagged with the loss after surrendering four runs (three earned) on three hits with a walk and two strikeouts over two innings. Jaden Winter was also solid in his second start of the year, allowing two runs on five hits with two strikeouts in 3.2 frames.
Dude is BALLIN’🔥🏀 https://t.co/kUAzhtJQ98 pic.twitter.com/fo5k5Ua5eP
— ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) March 12, 2025
Sean Swenson got the scoring started with a solo home run in the bottom of the first, but ECU responded quickly with two runs in the top of the second. Drew Downs reached to begin the half inning via a hit by pitch before Austin Irby worked a one-out walk. Bouche then laced a single to left that skipped past the fielder and permitted both runners to score. Collins would extend the lead to 4-1 in the third with a two-run blast he launched to deep center field.
🏴☠️⚾️ Alex Bouche gives ECU Baseball a 2-1 lead with a two rbi knock in the second inning. pic.twitter.com/TdUyk6MXbO
— Pirate Radio ☠️ (@PR927FM) March 11, 2025
The Rams drew within two in the bottom of the third thanks to a Jacob Lee RBI single, though the Pirates put up three more in the fourth to grab a 7-2 advantage. Collins continued his fine work in the contest in the sixth, adding a run-scoring double to his ledger, and later scored himself to push the East Carolina lead to seven at 9-2.
The Pirates put the wraps on the win in the top of the eighth with a three spot. Walker Barron was hit by a pitch and Kenan Bowman pushed him to second with a sacrifice bunt before Colby Wallace singled on the infield to put runners on the corners. Following an Irby walk, Bouche earned a free pass of his own to plate Barron while VCU’s fourth and final error of the evening saw two more runs come across to complete the scoring.
- Collins fell just a triple short of East Carolina’s first cycle since Jacob Starling accomplished the feat in a 10-6 win over NC State on April 23, 2024.
- The Pirates collected their first true road win of the season and captured their first victory in Richmond since March 5, 2008.
- ECU was 4-for-7 with a runner on third and less than two outs and limited VCU to a 1-for-13 performance with runners in scoring position.
- The Pirate bullpen certainly did its job, throwing 4.1 scoreless innings and scattering two hits with five strikeouts.
Up Next: East Carolina and VCU complete their two-game set Wednesday at 3 p.m.