GREENVILLE, N.C. (ECU ATHLETICS) – Redshirt freshman Davin Whitaker proved the hero Saturday evening as his two-run walk off single in the bottom of the ninth lifted East Carolina past UTSA by an 8-7 score in game two of a doubleheader from Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium. The Roadrunners captured the opening contest of the day 7-6 with a decisive five-run ninth frame.
ECU (28-23, 12-12 AAC) will wrap up the regular season next Thursday through Saturday at South Florida to determine its seeding for the AAC Baseball Championship slated for May 20-25 in Clearwater, Fla. The Pirates are also scheduled to host Campbell Tuesday for their 2025 home finale. UTSA (39-11, 20-4 AAC) has clinched the outright regular season title and No. 1 seed for the league tournament.
Game One: UTSA 7, East Carolina 6
The Roadrunners struck for five runs in the top of the ninth before holding on in the home half of the inning to erase a late two-run deficit and take the day’s opening affair.
Mason Lytle paced UTSA’s lineup with two hits, two runs scored and three RBI while Jack Herring and Ryley Johnson notched three hits apiece for East Carolina.
Connor Kelley (3-0) garnered the win in relief, allowing two runs on two hits with a walk and four strikeouts in 2.2 innings of work. Colby Wallace (0-1) was tagged with the loss after giving up three runs on three hits with two walks in just a third of an inning pitched.
The visitors struck for the initial run of the contest in the top of the first when Lytle was hit by a pitch with one out, stole second with two away and scored via an Andrew Stucky RBI single. ECU threatened to answer in the home half of the frame as Herring and Dixon Williams singled consecutively with one out, but Conor Myles retired the next two Pirate batters to keep the home side off the board.
East Carolina was not denied in the bottom of the second. Johnson drilled the first pitch of the frame into center field and to the wall for a leadoff triple before scooting home on a John Collins groundout to put the Pirates on even terms. With Herring on first after drawing a walk in the third, Austin Irby came inches away from giving ECU the lead, but the park just held his deep fly ball to right as James Taussig reached above the wall and hauled it in for the third out.
The Pirates snatched the upper hand for the first time in the fifth. Walker Barron shot a single through the right side with one away but was forced out at second on a fielder’s choice play but with Braden Burress on base as a result, Herring looped an 0-1 offering into the gap in right center and Burress slid headfirst across the plate to make it a 2-1 contest. The Roadrunners tied it back up in the top of the sixth though thanks to a two-out Drew Detlefsen RBI single.
East Carolina took control late as Herring and Johnson hit solo home runs in the seventh and eighth innings to put the Pirates on top 4-2 heading to the final frame. However, UTSA mustered up five runs by capitalizing on four walks and rapping out three hits to grab a 7-4 advantage. ECU loaded the bases with no outs in an attempt to walk it off and scored two via a Williams sacrifice fly and Colby Wallace two-out RBI single, but the Roadrunners held on as Robert Orloski notched his seventh save of the season with a game-ending strikeout.
Game Two: East Carolina 8, UTSA 7
The Pirates turned the tables in the nightcap, scoring four runs over the final two innings to walk away with the series finale.
Burress logged a three-hit performance at the top of the East Carolina order while Johnson finished with a hit, two runs scored and four RBI in the form of a first-inning grand slam. Lytle turned in his second multi-hit effort of the day, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI.
Lance Williams (2-1) was the winning pitcher after tossing a scoreless ninth inning with a strikeout, but Sean Jenkin’s middle relief effort was the story of the evening as he surrendered just one earned run and struck out six over 6.2 frames. Christian Okerholm (3-1) was saddled with his first loss of the year, allowing three runs on five hits in just 1.1 innings.
Taussig delivered a two-out RBI single in the top of the first inning to give UTSA a brief 1-0 lead, but the ECU offense responded in a big way in the home half. Burress led off with a double to the gap in left center and Herring followed with a walk. With two away later in the frame, Austin Irby drew a walk to load the bases, and Johnson hammered the first pitch he encountered over the wall in right for a grand slam and a three-run Pirate cushion.
The Roadrunners put up four of their own in the top of the second to push back ahead 5-4 and the score stayed there for several innings until UTSA produced a two spot in the eighth to extend its lead to three. East Carolina loaded the bases once more in the bottom of the inning before Barron and Burress singled consecutively to plate a pair and draw the Purple and Gold within one.
Williams took the mound in the top of the ninth with a runner on first and no outs but swiftly retired the next three Roadrunners in order to set up the final dramatics. Wallace laced a leadoff single up the middle to put the Pirates in business and Irby registered a nice at bat to draw a walk. A subsequent sacrifice bunt by Johnson moved the runners into scoring position for Whitaker who bounced a two-run single through the right side of the infield for ECU’s second nine-inning walk off victory of the campaign.
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