Brady Lloyd went five for five at the plate with an RBI and five runs score and Drew Henrickson, Connor Litton and Spencer Brickhouse all had multiple hits as (17)ECU’s pounced on Maryland 18-4 in game two of a weekend series in Greenville.
ECU(15-4) right-hander Chris Holba moved to 5-0 with the win. Holba yielded just a pair of runs in five and a third innings. He threw five strikeouts in 84 pitches of work Then ECU lefty Austin Covers and right-hander Sam Lanier came on in relief before West Covington came on in the eighth inning and Zach Barns shut the door to close the deal for the Pirates.
“I thought Holba was good. They’re pretty offensive. They’ve had double-digit hits each game so far against two really good pitchers so they’ll be ready tomorrow but I thought they swung the bats well,” Cliff Godwin said, “I thought Holba minimized it and then the bullpen came in and did enough. I thought Barnes and Covey were good at the end.”
Tyler Blohm gave up six runs with no strikeouts on 92 pitches in just four innings of work to drop to 2-2 and take the loss for Maryland who then turned to Alec Tuohy and Elliot Zoeliner in relief.
“I just thought our guys did a really good job of executing our approach and putting a lot of pressure on their starting pitcher and then just kept adding on which we needed today because they swung the bats well,” said Godwin, “Everybody that came off the bench, I think they had quality at-bats. We had guys like Bryson Worrell who had three RBI’s so I thought it was a complete team effort and just proud of the way the guys played.”
“A lot of guys had quality at-bats and that’s what we talk about all the time. Not batting average, quality at-bats because you can control having a quality at bat but you can’t control getting a hit,” Godwin stated.
But the story might be Brady Lloyd who went a perfect five for five to lead the Pirates to their fifteenth win of the year.
“Both my first two were just ground balls in the six hole. I was just looking for a fast ball. He was throwing in a lot. Just able to get my hands through it. My next at bat was the one off the pitcher so. We were just trying to stay in the middle of the field. The next at-bat was the one to left center on a fast ball that I was able to hit and my last one, that was probably the cheapest one of them all but when you’re having a day like that you just kind of take it,” Brady Lloyd said, “It feels great and it feels good to get the win. It’s cool to see everyone contribute in the same game.”
The Pirates got the festivities underway in the bottom of the second frame when Drew Henrickson’s grounder brought Brady Lloyd in for a 1-0 lead. Henrickson was at it again in the bottom of the fourth when his single up the middle scored another run. Then ECU scored on a wild pitch before Turner Brown’s sac fly brought Henrickson home for another run to make it 4-0 after four innings.
Maryland scored in the top of the fifth when Zach Jancarski grounded to third and Marty Costes scored on the play to make it 4-1.
In the bottom of the fifth, ECU tacked on six more runs on a wild pitch, a Nick Barber single that scored a pair of runs, a single from Henrickson to left center that brought Nick Barber home and a Jake Washer double to left that scored two more Pirate runs.
A.J. Lee doubled down the left field line in the top of the sixth to bring home a Terp run to make it 10-2.
In the bottom of the sixth inning Dusty Baker doubled to right which brought Brady Lloyd across home plate for ECU. That extended the lead to 11-2. Then with the bases loaded, Bryson Worrell was hit by a Elliot Zoeliner pitch to score another run to make the score 12-2.
Tommy Gardiner doubled down the left field line to score a Terp run in the top of the seventh before Kevin Biondic’s sac fly scored another run to cut the ECU lead to 12-4.
But ECU wasn’t quite through when they loaded the bases in the seventh and chased Zoeliner out of the game for former right fielder Randy Bednar. Then Brady Lloyd’s fifth base hit of the contest on a Texas Leaguer to right field brought Seth Caddell home for another run. Bednar then walked Whitehead to score another run and gave up a double to Worrell that brought Lloyd and Litton home before whitehead was thrown out at the plate. That made it 16-4, ECU.
In case that wasn’t enough and don’t you think it outta be, ECU loaded the bases for the sixth time in the bottom of the eighth frame. That prompted Maryland to bring in left-hander Billy Phillips who walked Chandler Jenkins to score a run. Then Phillips plunked Dusty Baker to put ECU up by two touchdowns.
ECU will go for their third series win of the year when they complete the three game series Sunday afternoon at 1 o’clock.
