GREENVILLE, N.C. (ECU ATHLETICS) – East Carolina rapped out 11 hits and utilized a nice start out of Sean Jenkins to coast to a 7-5 win over Elon Wednesday night inside Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
The Pirates (20-10) led wire to wire in picking up their 13th victory in their last 15 attempts won their seventh-straight home contest. The Phoenix dropped to 10-18 in advance of a Coastal Athletic Association weekend series at William & Mary.
After going 4-for-4 in last night’s win at UNCW, Kenan Bowman kept his bat hot as he registered two hits (including another double) while Dixon Williams, Braden Burress and Braxton Tramel also notched a pair of base knocks. ECU posted four extra-base hits in the game, including Alex Bouche’s first triple of the campaign. Ryan Sprock paced the visiting lineup with a hit, run scored and two RBI.
Sean Jenkins (3-1) was credited with the win after limiting Elon to a pair of earned runs and striking out five. Itai Spinoza (0-1) was tagged with the loss, surrendering the evening’s first run in just one inning of work.
Williams and Burress continued to produce out of the leadoff and second spots in the lineup, drawing a walk and hit by pitch consecutively in the bottom of the first. With one out, Tramel deposited an RBI single into shallow center to plate Williams and give the Purple and Gold a 1-0 lead headed to the second.
With two outs and Michael Kalinich at first base in the home half of the second, Williams reached on a bunt single before Burress laid down one of his own that the Phoenix third baseman sailed into right field and allowed both runners to score, making it a 3-0 Pirate advantage. Bouche began the bottom of the fourth with a bang, drilling one off the wall in center and reaching third as a result. Williams immediately sent him home with a groundout to push the upper hand to four.
A bases-loaded walk afforded the visitors their first run of the game in the fifth, but East Carolina responded with a two spot via back-to-back Tramel and Bowman doubles in the sixth to push ahead 6-1. The Phoenix would net four runs over the final few frames, but Colby Wallace covered the final two innings on the mound and hit his team-leading seventh home run of the season to help hold off Elon for good.
Postgame Notes
- The Pirates are now 13-5 inside Clark-LeClair Stadium this season with four games remaining on their current homestand.
- East Carolina has recorded double-digit hits in six of its last seven contests and has collected 10 or more pitching strikeouts in four of the last five.
- ECU did an outstanding job with two outs on the board, going 6-for-14 while holding Elon to 1-of-10 efficiency.
- Michael Kalinich made his first career start at catcher in his eighth start of the year (other seven at designated hitter).
- Williams and Burress both extended their on base streaks to 26 and 18 games, respectively. Burress also recorded his team-best 12th multi-hit effort of the season.
Looking Ahead: East Carolina welcomes Florida Atlantic to Greenville April 4-6 for an American Athletic Conference series.
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