(8)East Carolina kept their winning streak rolling at eight with a hard fought 8-7 walk-off Saturday win over Memphis in Clark-LeClair Stadium.
Connor Norby came through in the bottom of the ninth, reaching first with two men on on a throwing error on a double-play attempt that allowed Bryson Worrell to score from second base to win the game.
“No game is easy especially when you play a team for the third time and they’ve gotten better every single game that we’ve played them and the score has dictated that,” said Norby, “They play good teams and they play good baseball and they didn’t go away which most teams would.”
“We have a lot of confidence. If we come in with the right mindset, there are not many teams that can beat us but it’s a challenge because it’s an every day thing,” Norby told PirateIllustrated.com,
"We had a team meeting before the game preaching the same thing that we’ve got to take the games. They’re not going to just give it to you. We could have easily rolled over and let them beat us especially late in this game because they did not go away. You’ve got to take games in college baseball and college baseball is really good this year.”
Jake Kuchmaner lasted just less than five innings for ECU giving up six hits and three earned runs with just one strikeout before Matt Bridges came on in relief. Garrett Saylor, who went two innings at the end, giving up two hits and a run ended up picking up the win for ECU to improve to 3-0.
Memphis starting pitcher Landon Kelly went three innings after yielding six hits and four earned runs with a pair of strikeouts before being relieved by right-hander Carson Stinnett.
“It gives you an opportunity to be 4-0 on the weekend, but I don’t think they’re going anywhere as we’ve seen the past two games,” ECU head coach Cliff Godwin told PirateIllustrated.com, “They’re going to be ready to go. They’ve got good players. They’re tough and the credit goes to them. It would be easy for them to pack it in. They matched us pitch for pitch, they compete and they’ve really raised their game to this challenge that they’ve had on the road.”
ECU(25-5/7-0 AAC) got on the scoreboard first on a Ben Newton base hit to right centerfield in the bottom of the second frame that allowed Zach Agnos to score.
In the third inning the two teams both scored three times highlighted by an two-run Alec Trela home run over the right centerfield wall that gave Memphis a brief 3-1 lead.
The Pirates reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the third on a Thomas Francisco solo homer to right and a Bryson Worrell double down the left field line that brought a pair of ECU runs across home plate in a 4-3 contest.
The Tigers threatened in the top of the fifth, loading the bases before Matt Bridges put out the fire to avoid a potential disaster.
Two innings later in the sixth, the Pirates scored a pair of runs on a Ben Newton sacrifice fly and Josh Moylan’s RBI grounder to second base that allowed Thomas Francisco to score in a 6-3 ballgame.
Memphis(11-18/1-6 AAC) loaded the bases in the top of the seventh and scored a pair of runs on a Hunter Goodman RBI hit to center off of ECU reliever C.J. Mayhue that cut the Pirate lead to one. Then with two men on base, Mayhue managed to get out of the inning with ECU still up 6-5.
Lane Hoover’s second RBI of the season in the bottom of the seventh on a single to right gave the Pirates an insurance run and a 7-5 lead
But the Tigers wouldn’t go away, scoring a pair of runs in the eighth on a Braden Webb base hit to centerfield that tied the game at 7-7.
ECU relief pitcher Garrett Saylor struck out the side in the top of the ninth to put ECU in a position to win it in regulation. Then ECU got two aboard on Memphis pitcher Reed Harding with no outs. Harding was then lifted for right-hander Walker Brickhouse who took the loss to fall to 0-1.
“I thought our guys really competed hard today. I’m just really proud of them. The pitchers who came in did a good job,” said Godwin, “We went to Saylor and once he got out of that inning he was just dominant and it gave our offense life. It was a hard fought win.”
