GREENVILLE, N.C. (ECU ATHLETICS) – Braxton Tramel’s first career home run supported another stellar outing by East Carolina’s pitching staff Saturday afternoon as the Pirates downed Memphis 3-1 inside Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium to secure their first American Athletic Conference series win of the year.
ECU (14-9, 2-0 AAC) limited the Tigers (11-11, 0-2 AAC) to just four hits and one unearned run in the victory which was the Pirates’ 11th at home this season.
Brad Pruett (1-2) was lights out in relief, tossing a season-best 4.2 scoreless innings and allowing just one hit while striking out three. Jake Hunter, who suffered a season-ending injury at Memphis last season, collected his first save of the campaign by holding the visitors to a lone unearned run over the final two frames. Lance Williams provided a solid start, throwing 2.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
Tramel’s first career long ball was part of a two hit, two-RBI performance for the freshman. Fellow rookie Braden Burress contributed two hits of his own at the top of the lineup while Dixon Williams drove in an insurance run in the eighth. James Smith IV was the lone Tiger to record multiple hits, finishing the contest 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Memphis attempted to grab an early lead in the top of the first, getting runners to the corners with two away, but Williams fanned Shane Cox swinging to keep things scoreless. East Carolina struck in the bottom of the second when Austin Irby worked a two-out walk and Tramel lifted a 1-1 offering to right center that glanced off the glove of Chase Nixon and over the wall to make it a 2-0 game.
That score stayed put for quite a while until a Williams RBI single in the bottom of the seventh afforded the Pirates a three-run cushion. The Tigers could only muster an unearned run in the top of the eighth before Hunter retired the side in order in the ninth to preserve the victory.
Postgame Notes
- East Carolina won its 12th straight over Memphis and leads the all-time series 51-19.
- The Pirates captured their 38th weekend series in AAC play since the beginning of the 2018 campaign.
- All three Pirate RBI occurred with two outs while the teams combined to go 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
- Williams extended his on base streak to 19 games while Burress now owns a seven-game hitting streak.
Up Next: ECU attempts to record the series sweep when the teams reconvene Sunday at 12 p.m.
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