ECU picked up its second straight win over Wichita State on Saturday, thanks to a solid outing on the mound by Ethan Norby and some timely hitting.
Check out Pirate Radio
Website | Facebook | X (formerly Twitter) | Instagram | YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
=====
Photo credit: (ECU Sports Information)
The East Carolina Pirates (24-15-1, 9-5 American) solidified the series against the Wichita State Shockers (23-17, 7-7 American) on Saturday afternoon with their second game in a row at Lewis Field in Clark LeClair Stadium, ending with a score of 7-1.
Saturday started hot for East Carolina. Jack Herring worked a nine-pitch at bat, overcoming the long strikes with a line drive out to left center for a double. Herring extends his on-base streak now to 38, tying him fifth overall in program history with Kyle Roller (2/19-4/23/10).
Brayden Bachman is coming up to the plate with his fifth start as a DH for the Pirates, knocking one out to the Jungle in deep left field for his first career home run. With Bachman’s no-doubter, the Pirates lead 2-0 at the end of the first.
The second was quiet for the Pirates, but they were able to wake their bats up in the third. Herring started the rally in the third with a walk. Bachman gains another hit, going 2-for-2 on the day so far, with a double, having both Herring and Bachman in scoring position. Davin Whitaker fought for a quality at bat. Behind 0-2 in the count, Whitaker forced a walk to load the bases. Colby Wallace answers with one out, hitting a single up the middle, scoring both Herring and Bachman, with Whitaker taking third. The Pirates found themselves with bases loaded with two outs, with a hard line from Alex Bouche, and the Shockers found themselves out of the inning.
Wichita State found a way to work in the fourth. With a single to gain a runner, the Pirates fought back with a fielder’s choice to get the lead runner at second. With two hits in a row, a bunt single and a single out to right, the Shockers strung themselves together to move one run back home. But their momentum came to a halt with Ethan Norby slamming the door on his seventh strikeout of the day.
The Pirates answered back to the lone run the Shockers gained. Nick Parham leads off the bottom of the inning with a double out to center for an early base runner. Braden Burress successfully puts down a sacrifice bunt to move Parham to third. Herring then places a single at the right field line for an easy way home for Parham, making the score now 5-1 at the end of the fourth.
The Pirate defense has shown off throughout the day, making key plays when needed. Including Wallace and Bouche executing a 5-3 ground-out double play to finish the inning, forcing Wichita State to leave baserunners on.
East Carolina keeps pressure on the Shockers in the bottom of the sixth. Sabater leads off with his third hit of the day, with Bouche forcing a walk for two on base. Parham executes a sacrifice bunt play to put two runners in scoring position. But the Pirates become unsuccessful in their efforts, leaving the bases loaded with no runs in the inning.
In the top of the seventh, the Pirates found a little trouble. After a quality start, Ethan Norby left the game with two runners on base and was relieved by Joseph Webb. Webb struck out one batter and fielded two ground balls for putouts, ending the inning and stranding the bases loaded for the Shockers.
The Pirates had one more opportunity in the eighth to gain more insurance. Parham gained a walk with one out, with Braden Burress right behind him for another walk. Herring comes to the plate and gains a base on a fielder’s choice, but due to a miscue on the play with a ball to the dugout, Parham was able to score on the error. East Carolina now holds the score at 7-1 at the end of the eighth.
Webb shut the door on the Shockers in the ninth, solidifying his second save of the year.
Ethan Norby gained the save for the Pirates, having a quality outing totaling 6.0 innings, having given up six hits, one run and had nine strikeouts on the day. Webb’s second appearance of the weekend consisted of 3.0 innings, only giving up 2 hits with no runs and five strikeouts.
As the pitchers produced defensively, the Pirates’ offense had some standouts. Jeff Sabater went 4-for-4 on the day with four singles, with Herring right behind going 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBI and two walks. Bachman did well in his first start since March against Coastal Carolina, hitting his first collegiate home run, producing two runs and two RBI on the day. Wallace and Parham were also notable, both going .500 on the day and accounting for three of the seven runs for the Pirates.
East Carolina will look to sweep Wichita State on Sunday afternoon for the series finale at Clark-LeClair Stadium. First pitch is set for 11:00 a.m. EST.