ECU drops fourth straight, series finale to No. 5 UNC

by | Feb 25, 2025

A three-run second inning was followed by two more runs in the fourth inning as No. 5 North Carolina swept ECU 6-3 on Monday at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

The Tar Heels (7-0) took the three-game series and, combined with ECU’s loss to Campbell, the Pirates (2-5) have dropped four straight heading into Wednesday’s 3 p.m. home game with Old Dominion.

Below is a report by ECU Sports Information. Included are videos from Pirate Radio from Monday.

— Check out Pirate Radio’s X page for all the videos from Monday.

— Go to the ECU baseball X page for other videos

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(Top photo: Alex Peltier / ECU Sports Information)

By ECUPirates.com

No. 5 North Carolina remained unbeaten to open the 2025 campaign, knocking off East Carolina 6-3 Monday evening in the teams’ series finale inside Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

The teams combined for 17 hits while leaving 18 total runners on base. The Tar Heels (7-0) also hit into three double plays.

Alex Peltier was a spark at the top of the Pirate (2-5) lineup, going 3-for-5 with a run scored, while Hunter Stokely three hits, a run scored and an RBI for the visitors.

Aidan Haugh (1-0) picked up the win on the mound with a 5.0-inning effort during which he allowed two runs on four hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts. Bradley Zayac (0-1) was tagged with the loss after giving up three runs on three hits with two walks in 1.1 frames.

ECU jumped out to an early advantage in the bottom of the first. Peltier dropped a leadoff single into left field before Michael Kalinich laced a single down the left field line to leave runners at the corners with no outs. Austin Irby accounted for the game’s first run in the next at bat, producing an RBI groundout that left the Pirates ahead 1-0 through one complete.

North Carolina notched three runs on three hits in the top of the second to pull in front, but a Dixon Williams RBI double in the home half of the third made it a one-run contest at 3-2. A sacrifice fly and wild pitch pushed across a pair of Tar Heel runs in the fourth, extending the North Carolina upper hand to 5-2, before a Luke Stevenson run-scoring single stretched the margin to four.

East Carolina scored once more in the bottom of the eighth when John Collins drilled a 1-0 offering into the left field Jungle. Peltier then doubled with two outs in the ninth but was stranded at third following a wild pitch and a game-ending strikeout.

Postgame Notes Graphic

  • The contest was played in front of 5,802 which represents the eighth-largest crowd in Clark-LeClair Stadium history.
  • ECU played its second-straight game without committing an error.
  • North Carolina put six of its nine leadoff batters on base but was 0-for-2 with the bases loaded.
  • Collins is 2-for-2 in pinch hit opportunities this season with a single and home run.

Up Next: East Carolina continues its homestand Wednesday, Feb. 26, when it welcomes Old Dominion to Greenville. First pitch at Clark-LeClair Stadium is scheduled for 3 p.m.

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