GREENVILLE, N.C. (ECU ATHLETICS) – Braden Burress logged his second four-hit effort of the campaign Tuesday night to help East Carolina defeat UNCW 7-3 inside Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium and win the three-game season series.
Burress, who also posted four hits at Duke earlier in the campaign, added a pair of RBI and a walk for good measure while Austin Irby contributed two hits and drove in two runs. Brock Wills paced the visitors with two hits, a run scored and an RBI.
Bradley Zayac (1-1), on a predetermined pitch count with a Thursday-Saturday series looming in Birmingham this weekend, picked up his first collegiate victory by throwing 2.2 scoreless frames. He struck out three batters while scattering a trio of singles. Colby Wallace finished off the contest with three strikeouts in two scoreless and hitless innings. Bromley Thornton (0-3) was tagged with the loss, surrendering four runs on four hits with a strikeout in just one inning of work.
Zayac worked around a one-out single in the top of the first, setting the stage for ECU (22-16) to take an early advantage in the bottom of the frame. Burress led off with a single up the middle before Jack Herring was hit by a pitch. Wallace then laid down a bunt single to load the bases and Dixon Williams followed with an infield single to short that plated the first run of the contest. Consecutive groundouts kept the traffic moving and made it 3-0 while Irby capped the inning with an RBI single to center.
The Seahawks (18-19) stuck around, putting up a two spot on four hits in the top of the fifth, but the Pirates responded with three in the sixth. Walker Barron sparked the outburst with a leadoff double and moved to third on a fly ball to right. Irby plated him with another single before Alex Peltier deposited a first-pitch single into left and Alex Bouche walked to load up the bags. Burress then shot a two-run single through the right side of the infield to extend the East Carolina lead to 7-2.
UNCW added a consolation run in the top of the seventh and Wallace took it from there, allowing just a solitary base runner in the eighth and retiring the side in short order in the ninth.
Up Next: ECU heads south to Birmingham April 17-19 for an American Athletic Conference series at UAB.
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