Pepperdine tops No. 18 ECU 12-2, benches clear in LeClair Classic opener

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Will Jensen allowed one run, while Mike Malinchak and Aahron Modlin each had three hits helping Pepperdine to a 12-2 win over No. 18 ECU Friday afternoon at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium. With the win the Waves improve to 4-4 and the Pirates drop to 7-2.

How It Happened:

Pepperdine plated a pair of runs early in the third inning on Quincy Mcafee’s fielder’s choice that scored Modlin and an errant throw by Nick Barber on the same play allowed Duncan McKinnon to touch home for a 2-0 lead. The Waves scored another run in the fifth making it a 3-0 ball game on Joe Caparis’ sac fly that scored Modlin. ECU finally got on the board in the sixth on Jake Washer’s RBI double plating Spencer Brickhouse cutting the deficit to two, 3-1. But Pepperdine responded with a run in the seventh pushing the lead back to three, 4-1, when McKinnon reached on an error. Washer’s third hit of the night, a single to left, scored Brickhouse for a 4-2 Wave advantage after eight frames. However, Pepperdine plated eight runs in the top of the ninth to cap the scoring at 12-2.

Godwin’s Take:

“We didn’t come ready to play today. The guys looked at the score from the Campbell-Pepperdine game and thought we could just roll the balls out there and win. The best team doesn’t always win, it’s the team that plays the best that wins and Pepperdine played way better than we did.”

Pirate Pitchers:

Trey Benton (2-1) suffered the loss allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits with four punch outs in six full innings of work. The Pirates would use six arms in relief getting outings from Alec Burleson (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K), Austin Covers (1.0 IP, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 Ks), Matt Bridges (0.0 IP, 3 Rs, 1 BB), Zach Barnes (0.0 IP, 2 Rs, 1 BB), Cole Beavin (0.1 IP, 1 H, 2 Rs, 1 BB, 1 K) and Willy Strong (0.2 IP, 2 Hs, 1 K).

Waves Staff:

Jenson (2-0) picked up the win surrendering one run (unearned) on five hits with three strikeouts in six frames. The trio of Kiko Garcia (1.1 IP, 2 Hs, 1 R, 2 BBs, 1 K), Michael Mahony (0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 K) and Benjamin Slattery (1.0 IP, 1 H) allowed just one run over the final three innings

ECU’s Bats:

Washer led the Pirates with three hits and drove in both runs. Connor Litton and Bryant Packard each added two hits, while Brickhouse and Jeremy Whitehead had one. Brickhouse scored both runs for ECU in the contest.

Player of the Game:

Washer posted a career-high three hits recording a single in the second, RBI double in the sixth and RBI single in the eighth. It was his third multi-hit game of the season and his two RBI marked the third time this season he has driven in at least two runs in a contest.

Things of Note:

For the ninth-straight game, ECU registered at least nine hits in a contest (nine on the day) …

Brickhouse extended his current on-base streak to 25-straight games with a single through the left side in the eighth inning … The streak dates back to last April (Tulane series) …

Packard pushed his on-base streak to 13 games with his single in the first inning, which goes back to the 2017 season … He tallied his fourth multi-hit game of the year with a single in the third frame …

In eight games, Litton has recorded at least one hit in seven of those contests and has a team-best six multi-hit games … Over the last five games he has tallied 11 hits and has multiple base knocks in all five …

Up Next:

ECU returns to the field Saturday, March 3 when it plays host to No. 28 Missouri State on Day 2 of the 15th Annual LeClair Classic. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. (ET).