ECU scored three early runs, got hot in the sixth inning and then got a three-run homer from Skylar Brooks in the eighth in a 12-4 game three win over Rhode Island. The Sunday victory the Pirates an opening weekend series sweep in Clark-LeClair Stadium.
Carson Wisenhunt went four innings in his first start with ten strikeouts, giving up a pair of runs. Danny Beal(1-0) was credited with the victory for ECU while Vitale Jangols yielded three runs with four strikeouts for URI and fell to 0-1 on the season with the loss.
“It feels great because I’ve put in a lot of work and I know what I can do,” Wisenhunt told PirateIllustrated.com, “I’ve just got to continue to work hard and keep going out there and filling up the zone.”
“Last year I was a lot more nervous, I felt like I had to prove something that I just didn’t need to do. I felt like I had to do too much,” said Wisenhunt, “This year I’m kind of going out there and controlling what I can, filling up the zone and let the defense work.”
One got the sense that ECU wanted to get off offensively with a big outing early in the season to set the tone and Sunday’s win fulfilled the mission.
“On Sunday it’s energy and mental toughness. A lot of times 18 to 22 year olds think that because it’s Rhode Island who maybe doesn’t host a regional every year that we can just go out there and roll out the balls,” Cliff Godwin told PirateIllustrated.com afterward, “So you’ve got to keep your guard up. You never want to put it in the umpire’s hands and you don’t want to put yourself in a situation where a bloop hit can beat you.”
“Super proud of our guys and people who follow college baseball know it’s really hard to win college baseball games,” said Godwin, “There are more upsets on any given day. Today we got more bloop hits than we have all weekend but we had lined out so much I was telling the guys this is what happens when you keep getting good swings off that the baseball gods will take care of you. Baseball doesn’t have a clock so until you get that last out, anything can happen.”
Seth Caddell’s RBI base hit to center in the first inning got things underway quickly for the Pirates. That was followed by a Zach Agnos walk with the bases juiced and a Josh Moylan sacrifice fly that gave ECU an early 3-0 lead.
In the top of the third, URI struck back with a pair of RBI base hits from Greg Cavailere and Addison Kopack that quickly trimmed the lead to 3-2.
Agnos was at it again for ECU in the bottom of the fifth when his base hit to third scored Thomas Francisco.
The lead then grew to 8-2 in the sixth on Bryson Worrell’s RBI single to center and a Thomas Francisco double to left that scored two more runs. Then Lane Hoover stole third and scored on a throwing error by Rhode Island catcher Sonny Ulliana before Zach Agnos’ base hit to third scored another run.
Rhode Island managed to scored a pair of runs in the seventh before a Skylar Brooks bomb to left field scored three more ECU runs to put the game out of reach.
ECU returns to action this Tuesday when the Pirates host Duke in Clark-LeClair Stadium.
