ECU Evens Series With 8-4 Victory | Eastern North Carolina Now

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


    CINCINNATI, Ohio     Ryder Giles tossed 4.1 scoreless frames while his offense pounded out 12 hits as East Carolina evened the weekend series against Cincinnati Saturday afternoon at UC Baseball Stadium with an 8-4 victory. With the win the Pirates improve to 15-13 and 1-1 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Bearcats dropped to 10-15 overall and 1-1 in league action.

    With the Pirates leading 4-2 after six full innings of play, Cam Clonch's sac fly scored Lane Hoover for the would-be game-winning run. Hoover led off with a double to left center and stole third base just before Josh Moylan drew a walk to put runners on the corners. Clonch lifted a first pitching offering from Alex Shea to left field allowing Hoover to tag up from third base.

    Giles (2-0) earned the win tossing a career-high 4.1 scoreless innings in his third career start allowing four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Garrett Saylor picked up his second save of the year working a scoreless ninth where he came in with a two runners on and no outs. The right-hander got Griffin Merritt to pop up to short, where an infield fly was called and Zach Agnos threw over to first for a double play. He then got Ryan Nicholson to line out to end the contest. C.J. Mayhue allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits with a pair of walks before passing the ball over to Carter Spivey in the sixth. Spivey worked 2.1 innings giving up two runs (both earned) on five hits with a pair of strikeouts before Saylor entered the contest.

    Beau Keathley (2-1) got the loss after giving up four runs (all earned) on eight hits with a pair of walks and six strikeouts. The Bearcats would use three arms in relief getting outings from Shea (0.0 IP, 1 R, 1 BB), Even Kemp (1.0 IP, 2 BBs) and Garrett Harker (2.0 IP, 3 Hs, 3 Rs).

    Hoover's RBI single in the third inning staked the Pirates to an early 1-0 lead. With one away, Ben Newton laced a double down the left field line before Agnos drew a walk. Hoover stepped to the plate delivering a base hit to shallow center easily plating Newton for the games' first run.

    Jacob Jenkins-Cowart belted his fourth home run of the season, a three-run shot, extending ECU's lead to 4-0 in the sixth inning. Alec Makarewicz got things going with a walk and was erased when Jacob Starling reached on a fielder's choice. Bryson Worrell followed with a single to left and Jenkins-Cowart cleared the bases with his shot to left field.

    Cincinnati finally got on the board in the home half of the sixth cutting ECU's lead in half, 4-2. Nicholson reached on an error, which was followed by singles from Cole Harting and Kerrington Cross to load the bases. Mayhue struck out JP Sponseller for the first out and Max Palmieri laced a double down the right field line plating Nicholson and Harting before Cross was thrown out at home from Lane Hoover to Zach Agnos to Ben Newton. Carter Spivey entered the game and promptly struck out Jake Hansen to end the stanza.

    Cincinnati plated a pair of runs in the seventh pulling within one, 5-4, on a Griffin Merritt ground out (Paul Komistek scored) and a base hit through the left side by Harting (Joe Powell scored).

    Jacob Starling's third home of the season, a two-run shot, highlighted the Pirates three-run ninth making it an 8-4 ball game. Hoover tallied his third hit of the contest to get kick things off and took second on a wild pitch. Moylan drew his second walk of the day and two batters later, Makarewicz doubled to right field plating Hoover. Starling followed with a no-doubter home run to left field clearing the bases for a four-run advantage.

    Hoover led all Pirates with three hits, while Jenkins-Cowart, Makarewicz and Starling each added a pair. Jenkins-Cowart plated three runs and Starling drove in two.

    Both clubs will return to the diamond on Sunday, April 3 for the final game of the series. First pitch is slated for 12 noon (ET) and will be streamed on ESPN+.