ECU Rallies to Beat Cincinnati 6-5
East Carolina put together a solid Senior Day rally keyed by a Turner Brown home run in the bottom of the ninth inning and Connor Litton’s walk-off base hit to right that scored two runs to vault the Pirates past Cincinnati 6-5 Sunday afternoon in Clark-LeClair Stadium.
The Pirates scored five runs in the final two innings to pick up the win. With the victory, ECU takes the weekend series 2-1 heading into the final game of the regular season Tuesday night against Campbell.
Jake Washer and Turner Brown both had home runs for ECU. Washer had three hits overall, Bryant Packard had two and Connor Litton had a pair of RBI to lead ECU at the plate. It was Litton’s only hit of the game, but it proved to be the decisive blow for the Pirates.
“It was pretty special to be part of a walk-off, let alone be the one who hits the walk-off. Without the guys out there getting on first, second and third, it wouldn’t have given me that chance. They all had great at-bats. Turner’s lead off home run in that inning just sparked it. If you take that away, we get one out there with the bases loaded and it’s a different story and we get pitched to differently,” said Connor Litton who has been playing through a heel injury.
“It’s just been something there that has been nagging me. We did some work on it, some training room stuff. I don’t really think about it when I’m playing. When I’m going after a ground ball and I don’t feel it when I’m batting until maybe afterward when I’m walking back I feel it a little bit. The big thing for me is I don’t think about it.”
Pirate starter Jake Agnos only lasted an inning and a third after giving up three quick runs on four hits to go along with a pair of strikeouts before Trey Benton came on to throw for two and two thirds. Zach Barnes gave up two more runs before ECU rolled out a committee of relief pitchers to close out the game. Jake Kuchmaner ultimately picked up the win for ECU to move to 3-0 going two innings at the end of the contest with a pair of strikeouts and a walk.
Cam Alldred gave up just five hits including one home run to go along with six strikeouts in 105 pitches to get the win for Cincinnati(26-22/11-10 AAC). Left-hander Garrett Schoenle entered in the seventh inning in relief. A.J. Kullman ultimately took the loss for Cincinnati to fall to 1-3 on the season.
“A lot of people counted us out and I even think some of the fans. Our guys compete. I wasn’t worried about them showing up for senior day. I know there were some frustrating at-bats but their guy was pretty good. I kept telling the team if we can just hang in there we will be able to get to their bullpen. Their bullpen wasn’t as deep as it has been, “ ECU head coach Cliff Godwin said, “Man, what a great effort. We could have packed it in when Packard lined out in the seventh inning, but the guys kept fighting and I’m so proud of them. The seniors deserved it.”
The ECU seniors played a big part in Sunday’s senior day win that keeps ECU in contention for a conference title and a possible home birth in the upcoming NCAA regionals.
“For Ryan Ross and Davis Kirkpatrick to be able to just go out there and throw one inning. West Covington pitched two yesterday and Henrickson had a big hit today and a big ball that he ran down in right center. The seniors deserved this win,” said Godwin, “Davis and Ross were on fumes and they told me they had one inning in them and that was only because it was senior day. Kuchmaner had his name called and it hasn’t been called a lot, especially in situations like that. He was just terrific out of the bullpen.”
The Bearcats scored a run on a Jake Agnos wild pitch in the first inning and then scored a pair of runs in the top of the second when Kyle Mottice doubled to left field bringing in Treg Haberkorn and Joey Wiemer to give Cincinnati a 3-0 lead.
Cole Murphy’s two-run shot to right in the fifth inning off of ECU reliever Zach Barnes scored two more Cincinnati runs and gave the Bearcats a commanding 5-0 cushion.
ECU(37-13/13-8 AAC) finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth frame when Jake Washer ripped a home run over the right field wall into the football practice field to cut the Cincinnati lead to 5-1.
The Pirates mounted a threat after a Turner Brown sacrifice bunt advanced Nick Barber and Brady Lloyd to second and third in the seventh, but Bryant Packard lined into a double-play to end the inning. Packard did keep his consecutive game hit streak alive at 28 games with a base hit in the first inning. That currently ranks second all-time for ECU behind Stephen Batts who holds the all-time record.
A Drew Henrickson base hit scored a pair of ECU runs in the eighth. That after the Pirates loaded the bags on three consecutive walks from Schoenle that prompted a pitching change for Cincinnati to right-hander Jared Yoakam. With two outs and ECU runners on the corners, pinch hitter Alec Burleson grounded out to Kyle Mottice at second base to briefly quell the threat.
But Turner Brown homered early in the bottom of the ninth. Then Packard’s second hit of the game put the tying run at first base prompting big 6-8 reliever A.J. Kullman to enter the game for Cincinnati.
After a pair of Kullman wild pitches moved Packard to third base. Brickhouse then walked to load the bases with no outs. Clayton Colvin then entered in relief for Kullman and Connor Litton singled to right field to score two ECU runs and take the win.
