Another strong start keys Pirates

Bonesville staff report
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GREENVILLE —  East Carolina got another strong starting performance on the mound to win its second game in a season-opening series with Longwood on Saturday.

The Pirates topped the Lancers 9-6 at Clark-LeClair Stadium as Jacob Wolfe pitched six scoreless innings after being staked to a 5-0 lead in the third inning.

Wolfe allowed three hits and walked one while striking out seven. That followed a dominating effort by fellow left-hander Evan Kruczynski, who gave up just one hit in seven scoreless innings in an 11-1 ECU win over the Big South Conference visitors on Friday.

The Pirates' bullpen yielded six runs, including five in the ninth inning, before sophomore Joe Ingle picked up his first save of the season.

Wolfe threw 78 pitches, pounding the zone for 52 strikes.

Freshman Dwanya Williams Sutton went 4-for-5 as ECU collected 14 hits. Williams-Sutton had two RBIs and scored twice.

ECU never trailed before a crowd of 3,066, getting a first inning sacrifice fly by Bryce Harman.

The Pirates added four runs in the third with a two-run double by Williams-Sutton. Garrett Brooks had an RBI ground out in the big frame and Wesley Phillips had a run-scoring single.

Brooks had a two-run single in the fifth to extend ECU's lead to 7-0.

Parker Lamm scored as the Lancers muffed a pickoff attempt in the sixth. The lead went to 9-0 later in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Travis Watkins.

Davis Kirkpatrick saw his first action since Tommy John surgery sidelined him last season. He surrendered one unearned run in two innings as the Lancers managed one hit during his stint. The D.H. Conley grad struck out three.

The Pirates go for a series sweep starting at 1 p.m. today.

PAGE UPDATED 02/21/16 02:48 PM.

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