Courtesy of Wichita State Athletics GREENVILLE, N.C. — Wichita State scored four runs over the final three innings and brought the tying run to the plate in eighth but could not climb out of an early hole as #9 East Carolina held on for a 6-4 win on Friday night at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
East Carolina starter Trey Yesavage (8-1) was dominant over the first six innings, striking out a career-high 15 batters while holding the Shockers (21-18) to just two hits and three total baserunners. The Pirates built a 6-0 lead for him with two runs in the second, one in the third and three in the fourth, but Wichita State finally found the range against the talented righty in the seventh.
Jaden Gustafson led off the inning with a pinch-hit single, followed by a walk to Jordan Rogers. A pair of ground outs to first base plated one run and Camden Johnson made it 6-2 with an RBI single. Kam Durnin then knocked Yesavage from the game with a booming double to right-center, scoring Johnson to trim the ECU lead to 6-3.
Wichita State continued to chip away in the eighth. Mauricio Millan singled and Dayvin Johnsondoubled to put runners at second and third with nobody out, but the Shockers could only muster one run on an ground out from Rogers that cut the deficit to 6-4. East Carolina reliever Ethan Norby struck out the final four batters to record his first save of the season.
Caden Favors (5-4) took the loss for Wichita State, allowing ten hits and six runs (four earned) over 6.0 innings. After the early damage, Favors settled in with two scoreless innings and ended his outing with seven strikeouts against just one walk. Brady Hamilton put together a flawless outing in relief of Favors, retiring all six Pirates he faced on just 17 pitches.
The Shockers and Pirates conclude the series on Sunday afternoon with a doubleheader. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1:30 pm CT, with game two scheduled to begin 50 minutes after the conclusion of the opener.