ECU sweeps Memphis; prepare for NCSU

East Carolina University’s baseball team recorded its first American Athletic Conference weekend series sweep against the University of Memphis, helping it earn the No. 7 spot in this week’s Baseball America rankings.

ECU holds a 30-9, 8-4 AAC record compared to Memphis’ 13-28, 1-11 AAC record, showing the Pirates have been more dominant this season. Though the Pirates secured the series victory with a sweep, ECU did not take Memphis for granted, competing in a double-header on Saturday and winning the final two games of the series, both times 4-2.

The Pirates jumped out to a early 4-0 lead after three innings in game two of their double-header on Saturday, the final game of the series. However, the offense had its struggles when Tigers’ left handed pitcher Hunter Smith came in for relief to help Memphis cut the lead in half. The Pirates didn’t put up another run for the rest of the game, but the ECU pitchers picked up the slack and held off the scrappy Tigers when they threatened in the ninth inning, holding on for the 4-2 win.

“We put up four runs early and then they brought in their best reliever and we couldn't scratch any runs across, but all our pitchers in game two (Tyler Smith, Gavin Williams, Jake Agnos and Zach Barnes) were all really good out on the mound today,” head coach Cliff Godwin said.

Hard fought, close wins were the general theme for the Pirates in this series. They faced a two-run deficit in game one before coming back with a four-run fifth inning to come away with another 4-2 win. The story line of this game however was sophomore right hander Trey Benton getting pulled in favor of freshman left hander Alec Burleson for the starting nod, who went 4.1 innings, allowing just two runs on five hits with four strikeouts.

According to Godwin, the Pirates had their struggles scoring runs against the Tigers’ bullpen, particularly in game one Friday night. But the solid performances from the defense and pitching staff picked up the slack, which was enough to leave Memphis with the series sweep.

“I just thought we were OK offensively with a lot of soft contact and don't know if we were as focused as we needed to be, but we did enough to win.” Godwin said. “Anytime you go on the road and get a series win is awesome, and obviously sweeping a series on the road is very hard to do.”

ECU is 4-0 so far on this five-game road trip, setting the tables for what might be the biggest matchup of the season in its road trip finale against No. 2 North Carolina State University, who sits at 31-8 and 15-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, one of the nation’s premier conferences.

Both teams have dominated in-state matchups this season, with ECU going 13-1 against North Carolina squads and NCSU going 10-1, with its first loss coming on Sunday in a series win at Duke University. This is such an important game for the Pirates because they face the No. 2 team in the nation, who is also the final ranked team in North Carolina ECU has yet to defeat.

Sophomore lefty pitcher Jake Agnos is scheduled to make another week day start after pitching two innings out of the bullpen this weekend. However, with Benton failing to make his regular start, it’s possible the former Friday night starter may be available out of the bullpen in some capacity.

Agnos has thrived in his weekday starting role, most recently in last week’s road win against the Blue Devils, but tonight will arguably be his toughest task of the season, going up against one of the top offenses in the country. NCSU ranks 14th in batting average (.304) and fifth in the nation in home runs (56). To get an idea how deep their lineup is, the Wolfpack are just one player shy of having a full lineup of batters hitting over .300 for the season.

With Benton, his recent struggles is likely the reason Godwin pulled him from pitching this weekend. Benton is currently on a four-game losing streak while allowing 17 earned runs on 24 hits in just 14.2 total innings pitched.

Tonight’s marquee matchup will air at 6 p.m. on the WatchESPN and the ESPN app.