13th ranked ECU baseball snaps five game losing streak, closing in on conference title

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - The ECU baseball team defeated Rice 8-2 to snap a 5-game losing streak on Thursday night in Greenville.

“Why shouldn’t we lose 5 in a row and see if we can stay faithful in Him in a challenging time,” says ECU catcher Ryan McCrystal, “I know all the guys treated today as a different day and understood that if we keep trusting in our work and God’s plan there is no going wrong.”

Pirates ace pitcher Trey Yesavage went 5.2 innings, allowed a run on two hits with seven strikeouts picking up his 11th win of the season.

Jacob Jenkins-Cowart and Justin Wilcoxen both hit three-run home runs in the game as ECU grabbed the lead in the middle innings and never looked back.

D.H. Conley grad Dixon Williams also had an RBI double.

Ethan Norby came in during a bases loaded jam in the seventh inning and pitched the rest of the game to get the save. He got out of another bases loaded situation to close out the win.

ECU leads UTSA by one game in the standings heading into Friday’s final games of the regular season. They control their own destiny to clinch their fifth straight conference title.

“Today is a new week. We are out here and we got a chance to win the conference tomorrow on our home field,” says ECU Head Coach Cliff Godwin, “We need Pirate nation to be even more energetic than they were tonight. Be ready to go so we can go win another conference championship.”

Saturday’s game was moved up to Friday. They will play a doubleheader starting at 2:30 PM.