No. 8 ECU Baseball completes sweep of Cincinnati, 6-2

Tyler Smith struck out a career-high eight batters, while Spencer Brickhouse and Alec Burleson each collected three hits helping No. 8 ECU to an American Athletic Conference series sweep at Cincinnati, 6-2, Sunday afternoon in Marge Schott Stadium. With the win the Pirates improve to 36-11 overall and 16-2 in league play, while the Bearcats drop to 22-25 and 11-10.

Trailing 2-0 in the fifth inning, ECU erupted for six runs on four hits taking a 6-2 lead. Ryder Giles’ sac fly scored Turner Brown for the first run and after Bryant Packard was intentionally walked putting runners on first and second. Lane Hoover’s RBI single scored Thomas Francisco tying the game at two-all. Brickhouse followed with a two-RBI single through the left side pushing across Packard and Hoover, then Burleson plated Brickhouse on his two-run homer to right field, his sixth of the season.

Smith (6-0) earned the win allowed a pair of runs (both earned) on five hits with one walk and his eight strikeouts. Cam Colmore worked a scoreless eighth with a pair of strikeouts, while Evan Voliva struck out one in his two innings of relief.

Clayton Colvin (2-2) took the loss surrendering four runs (all earned) on six hits with a pair of walks and two strikeouts in 4.2 innings. AJ Kullman was touched for a pair of runs (both earned) on four hits with two walks and two punch outs in 2.1 innings. Nathan Moore closed out the game working two scoreless frames in relief

For the first time this weekend, Cincinnati jumped out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to Cole Murphy’s RBI single in the second. Joey Wiemer reached on an infield single to third, stole second and came around to score on Murphy’s base hit back up the middle.

Wyatt Stapp’s RBI double extended the Bearcats’ lead to 2-0 in the third frame. Eric Santiago walked with one out and sprinted home on Stapp’s extra base hit down the right field line.

Offensively, the Pirates pounded out 11 hits improving to 23-1 when tallying double-digit base knocks in a game. Brickhouse and Burleson registered three hits each, while driving in a pair. Brown also recorded a multi-hit game going 2-for-3 with a run scored.

ECU will continue its seven-game road trip on Wednesday, May 8 when it travels to instate foe No. 15 North Carolina. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. (ET) at Boshamer Stadium.