No. 10 ECU walks-off Cincinnati 6-5 to win weekend series

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Connor Litton’s two-RBI single in the bottom of the ninth scored Bryan Packard and Bryson Worrell giving No. 10 ECU a 6-5 walk-off win over American Athletic Conference opponent Cincinnati Sunday afternoon at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium.

With the win the Pirates improve to 37-13 (13-8 AAC) on the season, while the Bearcats fall to 26-24 (11-10 AAC).

How It Happened:

Trailing by two runs going to the ninth inning, Turner Brown led off the frame with a solo home run to right field pulling ECU within one, 5-4. Packard singled through the right side, which was followed by consecutive walks by Worrell and Spencer Brickhouse to load the bases. Cincinnati went to the bullpen for the second time in the frame bringing in Clayton Colvin to face Litton, who singled to right field on an 0-2 count pushing across Packard (tying run) and Worrell (winning run) for a 6-5 walk-off and series win – the Pirates second of the season. Cincinnati jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first frame when Connor McVey scored on a Jake Agnos wild pitch with the bases loaded. Kyle Mottice’s two-RBI double to left field pushed across two more runs (Joey Wiemer and Treg Haberkorn) for the Bearcats extending their lead to 3-0. Cole Murphy’s second home run of the series, a two-run shot to right field, added to Cincinnati’s lead in the fifth inning, 5-0. Jake Washer finally got ECU on the board in the sixth smacking his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot to right making it a 5-1 ballgame. Andrew Henrickson’s two-RBI single in the eighth pulled the Pirates within two, 5-3, scoring Worrell and Brickhouse.

Godwin’s Take:

“I’m just happy for our seniors. We were without one of our weekend starters and Agnos was on fumes, but gave it everything he had. Davis and Ryan both said they had one inning in them and if it wasn’t Senior Day, they probably wouldn’t have pitched. It was just a heck of a performance by a lot of guys. Andrew Henrickson played unbelievable in the outfield and had a big two-RBI knock in the eighth inning. There were a lot of times where this team could have packed it in like when Packard lined out into a double play the seventh, but we just kept fighting – that’s what makes this one special.”

Pirate Pitchers:

Jake Kuchmaner (3-0) picked up his second win of the week tossing two scoreless frames where he walked one and struck out a pair. Starter Jake Agnos allowed three runs (all earned) on four hits with a walk and fanned two in 1.1 innings. Bridging the gap to Kuchmaner for the Pirates were Trey Benton (2.2 IP, 3 Hs, 2 BBs, 4 Ks), Zach Barnes (0.1 IP, 2 Hs, 2 Rs), Davis Kirkpatrick (1.2 IP, 1 H) and Ryan Ross (1.0 IP, 2 Ks).

Bearcats Staff:

AJ Kullman (1-3) suffered the loss giving up one run (earned) on two walks. Starter Cam Alldred surrendered one run (earned) on five hits with a walk and six strikeouts in six full innings of work. Also, working out of the bullpen for Cincinnati was Garrett Schoenle (1.0 IP, 2 Rs, 5 BBs), Jarod Yoakam (1.0 IP, 3 Hs, 2 Rs, 1 K) and Clayton Colvin (0.0 IP, 1 H).

ECU Bats:

The Pirates registered nine hits on the day getting three from Washer and two from Packard. Henrickson and Litton each drove in a pair of runs, while Brown and Washer added one apiece coming on their home runs. Worrell came off the bench and scored a pair of runs, including the game-winner on Litton’s two-RBI single in the ninth.

Things To Know:

Packard pushed his hit streak to 28 games (tied for second-longest in Pirate history with Steve Side, 1987) with a leadoff single through the left side in the first, which also extended his on-base streak to 33 games … He finished the game with a pair of hits and now leads the team with 21 multi-hit games …

Williams-Sutton extended his on-base streak to 16 games when he was hit by a pitch in the third inning …

Brickhouse extended his on-base streak to 20 games on the first of his two walks on the afternoon in the eighth inning …

Litton’s two-RBI single was his eighth multi-RBI game of the season and his second career game-winning RBI (other: Feb. 18 vs. Western Carolina/3-run home run in the first inning) …

Washer led the Pirates with three hits, which tied his career high …

Brown belted his fourth home run of the season and second in the series (consecutive days) …

With the win, the Pirates have 37 victories on the season which are the most through 50 games since 2004 (43-7 at that point) …

The Pirates improved to 5-5 in one-run games this year with the 6-5 win Sunday …

The walk-off win was the second-straight Mother’s Day walk-off for the Pirates … Last year ECU walked-off Memphis in the 11th on Turner Brown’s base hit for a 3-2 victory …

Following the game, the Pirates held their annual ECBL baseball game spending nearly two hours playing baseball with the Exceptional Community Baseball League at Clark-LeClair …

Up Next:

ECU will close out its regular season home schedule on Tuesday, May 15 when it plays host to instate foe Campbell. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (ET).