ECU knocks off No. 1 North Carolina in 4-0 win

With Clark LeClair Stadium filled to the brim with Pirate fans, freshman pitcher Kevin Brandt silenced No. 1 North Carolina by a score of 4-0, with the strongest performance of his young career.

The win completed a sweep of midweek opponents, as the Pirates defeated Elon 10-9 on Tuesday.

"All I got to say is wow," head coach Billy Godwin said of Brandt's performance.

With Wednesday's victory, Brandt now has two respectable wins on his resume, defeating both UNC and N.C. State in his last two starts. Brandt also set a new career high in every pitching statistic and has thrown 20 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings against Rice, N.C. State and UNC.

"Obviously, I didn't think I was going to come out and do that," said Brandt. "That was a big win for the team."

Brandt retired 11 consecutive Tar Heel batters, leaving UNC hitless from the third out in the first inning all the way to the second out in the eighth.

Not to be overshadowed by Brandt's outstanding showing, the Pirates cracked the code on UNC starter Patrick Johnson's pitches, starting in the sixth inning.

The match up was the definition of a classic pitchers' duel as Brandt and Johnson matched strikeout for strikeout, until the Pirates got on the board in the bottom of the sixth.

Ryan Wood, who fell twice on strikes early in the game, lifted the long ball to the Jungle with one out in the bottom of the sixth, giving ECU the lead.

"They're a very good club," said Wood. "It just feels good to finally beat them."

Wood, who gave ECU its lead, caught a line drive to second to shut the coffin on college baseball's top team.

The Pirates sealed the win, tacking on three runs in the bottom of the seventh, before pitcher Seth Maness came on for the last two outs of the game.

Stephen Batts started the seventh with a shot back at the pitcher. Then during Devin Harris' at-bat, Batts broke for second and the UNC backstop Mark Fleury sent a frozen rope high over the second basemen as Batts picked up two bags.

Harris then walked and Drew Schieber curved one out to mid-right field to score Batts. Harrington came to the plate and walked to load the bases for Jared Avchen.

Avchen floated one over short for a two-RBI single, giving the Pirates the 4-0 lead.

Maness came into close after Brandt left to a standing ovation from the ECU faithful. With the bases loaded and one out, Maness made the save, finishing off UNC with the last two outs.

"It was a tough job," said Maness. "All I could do is trust my stuff and throw strikes."

With the Pirates' victory, ECU snaps a nine-game losing streak to the Tar Heels.

The crowd of 5,581 was the largest to witness a college baseball game in North Carolina history.

On Tuesday night, Kyle Roller lifted the Pirates passed Elon, not once, but twice, with a three-run homer and a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth.

With one out and the bases loaded, Henderson sent a blooper over short into shallow right-center to square things up at nine. Roller stepped up to the plate for his sixth at-bat of the game and sent the ball back up the middle to bring home Broc Sutton from third as ECU won its second game of the year against Elon by a final score of 10-9.

Roller came up empty on his first two at-bats, going down on strikes both times and leaving five men on base. Yet, redemption was sweet as he carried ECU to a dead heat with Elon at 7, with a three-run shot well over the scoreboard in right-center.

"In my first two at-bats I caught myself trying to do a little to much," said Roller. "The next couple at-bats I just tried to slow things down. Luckily, I got a piece of that first ball."

ECU pulled ahead of Elon in the eighth inning as Schieber tagged up at third and came home on a fly ball to left, tagged by Whitehead.

The Pirates looked to hold the Phoenix in the top of the ninth, but came up unsuccessful as Elon loaded the bases and scored two runs on a fly ball to the gap in right-center to take the lead, 9-8.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Diamond Bucs dug deep as Roller came up with the game-winning hit up the middle for the 10-9 victory.

"Hanging in there and having a little character and believing in each other is exactly what I thought our guys did tonight," Godwin said.

The Pirates overcame an early 6-0 deficit as the Phoenix tacked on one run in the opening frame and had a five-run rally through the second.

On Friday, the Pirates host Southern Miss (25-14), part of a three-game Conference-USA series.

This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.