Pirates Rally For Road Win At Charleston | Eastern NC Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of ECU Sports.



    CHARLESTON, S.C.     East Carolina recorded its first true road win of the season Saturday afternoon, scoring five runs in the top of the seventh inning to down the College of Charleston 5-4 in the series opener at Patriots Point.

    The Pirates (14-11) won their third straight and sixth of their last seven while the Cougars' (5-17) losing streak reached eight games.

    Sydney Yoder went 2-for-3 with two RBI to pace the ECU offense. Jenna Carter and Payton Wade rapped out a pair of hits apiece for Charleston. The teams combined to leave 18 runners on base while the Pirates took advantage of eight walks issued by the Cougar pitching staff.

    Taylor Smith (2-1) captured the win in relief, throwing a scoreless frame in the sixth. Starter Logyn Estes re-entered the game in the bottom of the seventh and kept Charleston at bay to record her first save of the campaign. Lauren Sandor (0-1) was charged with the loss after surrendering the winning run in the seventh. She walked a pair and did not record an out.

    The Cougars opened the scoring in the bottom of the first as Carter scored from third on a throwing error with the bases loaded. A two-run single off the bat of Carsten Puckett in the home half of the second made it 3-0 before Noel Dominguez tallied an RBI single in the third to leave Charleston with a 4-0 advantage.

    Neither side was able to dent the scoreboard in the next three frames, setting up the East Carolina rally in the top of the seventh. Jocelyn Alonso and Faith Jarvis singled consecutively to lead it off and Chandley Garner drew a walk to load the bases with no outs.

    After a fielder's choice play resulted in the first out, Yoder delivered a two-run single to cut the Cougar lead to 4-2. Estes then drew a walk to load the bases back up and Ledvina followed suit with a free pass to plate Bailee Wilson and make it a one-run game. With two away, Joie Fittante came through in the clutch with a two-run single to propel the Pirates ahead 5-4.

    Wade put Charleston in business with a leadoff double in the bottom of the seventh. However, Estes retired the next two batters and finished the job by inducing a grounder to third to strand the tying run at second base.