Five homers lift No. 10 ECU over Cincinnati 13-6 to even series

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Spencer Brickhouse hit a pair of home runs and drove in a career-high six runs, while Turner Brown collected four hits and scored four times lifting No. 10 ECU to a 13-6 win over Cincinnati Saturday afternoon in American Athletic Conference play at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium.

With the win the Pirates improve to 36-13 on the season and 12-8 in league play while the Bearcats drop to 26-23 overall and 11-9.

How It Happened:

Bryant Packard belted hit 12th home run of the season and fifth leadoff homer to start the game giving ECU a 1-0 lead. The Pirates extended their lead to four, 4-0, on Spencer Brickhouse’s three-run jack to left field. Turner Brown doubled to start the frame and two batters later Dwanya Williams-Sutton was hit by a pitch setting up Brickhouse’s home run. Cincinnati finally got on the scoreboard with a run in the fifth thanks to Treg Haberkorn’s RBI single. The Pirates responded with two in the home half of the frame on Brickhouse and Connor Litton’s back-to-back home runs staking ECU to a 6-1 lead. But a four-spot by the Bearcats in the sixth pulled them within one, 6-5, which was highlighted by Cole Murphy’s three-run blast to right-center. It didn’t take ECU long to recoup those runs as it plated four in the bottom of the sixth on RBI singles by Brown and Packard to go along with Brickhouse’s RBI sac fly and Litton’s RBI ground out for a 10-5 advantage. Cincinnati scored one in the seventh, while the Pirates pushed across two in the eighth (Brown two-run home run) and one in the eighth (Brickhouse double) capping the scoring at 13-6.

Pirate Pitchers:

Alec Burleson (4-1) got the win working 5.2 innings where he allowed four runs (all earned) on five hits with a walk and five strikeouts. The Pirates used three arms out of the pen getting outings from Zach Barnes (1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 Rs, 1 BB, 1 K), Davis Kirkpatrick (0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K) and West Covington (2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K).

Bearcats Staff:

Nathan Kroger (1-4) took the loss surrendering six runs (all earned) on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts. The Bearcats also used three arms in relief with outings coming from Jalen Wade (1.0 IP, 5 Hs, 4 Rs), Tristan Hammans (1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 Rs, 1 BB) and Isaac Olson (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R).

ECU Bats:

The Pirates pounded out 14 hits improving to 20-2 on the season when reaching double-digit base knocks. Brown led the way going 4-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and three runs scored, while Brickhouse was 3-for-4 with two home runs, six RBI and scored twice. Packard, who extended his hit streak to 27 games, was 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI and runs scored at the dish. In all, eight of ECU’s nine starters registered at least one hit in the contest.

Things To Know:

Packard pushed his hit streak to 27 games (third longest in Pirate history) with a leadoff home run to right-center to start the game (his fifth leadoff homer this season), which also extended his on-base streak to 32 games … His leadoff home run was the fifth of the season and most by a Pirate since the 2004 season … He is also the first Pirate since 2010 to have five first inning home runs in a season since Kyle Roller belted seven first frame long balls ...

Williams-Sutton extended his on-base streak to 15 games with a walk in the opening frame … With his single in the sixth, he has now collected a hit in seven-straight games … He also swiped his team-leading 14th base, which came in the eighth inning …

Brickhouse extended his on-base streak to 19 games on the first of his two home runs, a three-run shot … He belted homers in consecutive at-bats for the second time in his career (other: Charleston on March 8, 2017) … The sophomore drove in a career-high six RBI in the game (three-run homer, solo homer, sac fly, RBI double) …

Litton hit his eighth home run of the season, a solo shot in the fifth …

The Pirates belted five home runs on the day, which was a season high …

With the win, the Pirates have 36 victories on the season which are the most through 49 games since 2008 (also 36-13) …

Kirkpatrick dropped his ERA to a club-best 0.96 on the season after registering his 25th strikeout of the year …

Up Next:

ECU will to capture the series Sunday, May 12 (Mother’s Day) with a 1 p.m. (ET) scheduled first pitch. Pirate fans are encouraged to arrive early as the recognition ceremonies are set to begin at 12:45 p.m. (ET).