Pirates hold off Cincinnati, even series

Staff report
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Post-game audio: Cliff Godwin, Jimmy Boyd, Luke Bolka...

GREENVILLE — East Carolina ended an offensive lull and evened its American Athletic Conference series against visiting Cincinnati with a 6-4 win Saturday.

ECU had scored just eight runs in its previous six games.

The Pirates took a 6-0 lead into the top of the ninth Saturday but the league-leading Bearcats created some anxiety for a Clark-LeClair Stadium crowd of 2,915 before Joe Ingle recorded his ninth save.

ECU gave Jimmy Boyd (6-3) some early run support as the Pirates improved to 27-16 overall and 8-6 in the AAC.

Luke Bolka was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the first to stake ECU to a 1-0 lead.

Parker Lamm, Eric Tyler and Travis Watkins had singles in the opening frame as the Pirates outhit Cincinnati, 13-8.

The league-leading Bearcats fell to 21-22 on the season and 9-5 in league play.

Bryce Harman walked to start a two-run second inning for the Pirates. An error on a sacrifice bunt by Charlie Yorgen put runners at second and third for ECU.

Harman scored on a ground out to second by Lamm and an infield single by Turner Brown brought in Yorgen.

Bolka led off the bottom of the fourth with a double down the left field line. He went to third on an infield hit by Jeff Nelson. Yorgen's ground out to first allowed Bolka to come home for a 4-0 Pirates lead.

Zack Mozingo had a two-run single in the sixth for a 6-0 ECU advantage.

The Pirates needed those runs as the Bearcats scored four runs in the ninth after a leadoff walk to Cam Alldred. An RBI double by Woody Wallace spoiled the shutout.

A single to left center by Devin Wenzel brought in Wallace and cut the Pirates lead to 6-2.

Cole Murphy's two-run homer closed the gap to 6-4 before ECU summoned Ingle.

The sophomore right-hander retired three straight to seal the win for the Pirates.

"Joe reminded me he had a 1-2-3 inning," said Pirates coach Cliff Godwin. "That's good. He'll be available (Sunday)."

Boyd allowed four hits over six innings with no runs, two walks and six strikeouts.

Freshmen Matt Bridges and Chris Holba each yielded two runs in the ninth.

The top three in ECU's batting order — Lamm, Brown and Tyler — each had two hits.

"Our guys were ready to play today," Godwin said.

Murphy went 2-for-4 in the loss.

The deciding game of the series is scheduled for noon today.

PAGE UPDATED 05/01/16 03:24 PM.

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