ECU wins AAC opener, splits twinbill

By Al Myatt
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GREENVILLE — East Carolina won its first-ever American Athletic Conference game 4-1 over Memphis in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

The Tigers managed a split with a 3-2 win in the second game.

Evan Kruczynski pitched a complete game in the opener and Reid Love went 4-for-4 at the plate with a 2-run homer in the fifth for a 3-0 ECU lead.

Kruczynski (5-1) allowed six hits and one earned run while walking one and striking out six.

Kruczynski said he had been working on his offspeed stuff and was effective when he got ahead in the count.

Hunter Allen had a sacrifice fly to put the Pirates ahead to stay at 1-0 in the second inning of the first game. Allen's RBI single in the sixth gave ECU a 4-0 advantage. Allen is playing with a torn ligament in a thumb.

Kruczynski took a shutout into the ninth but yielded doubles to Darien Tubbs and Tucker Tubbs as Memphis pulled within 4-1.

Kirk Morgan's RBI triple with two down gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the second inning of the second game.

Tucker Tubbs singled in a pair of runs for the Tigers in the sixth inning after ECU pitcher Jacob Wolfe committed errors on two sacrifice bunts.

The Pirates tied the second game in the seventh inning after Garrett Brooks walked and stole second. He went to third on a ground out to second by Eric Tyler and scored on a wild pitch.

Jimmy Boyd, who dropped to 2-7 with the loss, hit Tucker Tubbs to start the ninth. A sacrifice bunt moved him to second and he took third on a ground out. Jake Overbey's single to left scored Tubbs for a 3-2 Memphis lead.

ECU threatened in the bottom of the ninth as Luke Lowery singled and a sacrifice bunt by Travis Watkins put him at second. Brooks had a drive to center field that Darien Tubbs snared for the second out. A ground out stranded the potential tying run.

"We played pretty well the first game," Pirates coach Cliff Godwin said. "No errors. That's awesome. ... The second game we played good up until the sixth inning when they tried to bunt twice and we made two errors. We gave them two runs. We've got to get outs when they're giving us outs. ... Their outfielder makes a SportsCenter Top 10 play (Darien Tubbs' catch in the ninth)."

The deciding game of the three-game series is scheduled for 1 p.m. today.

PAGE UPDATED 03/29/15 10:44 PM.

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