GREENVILLE — Trey Benton and Matt Bridges combined on a shutout as East Carolina took the Keith LeClair Classic championship with a 4-0 win over Appalachian State on Sunday at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
ECU (8-3) won its eighth straight game this season and its eighth outright LeClair Classic title in the 14 years of the event. The Pirates shared the Classic crown once and have won for five straight years.
ECU took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning as Luke Bolka tripled down the left field line and scored on a sacrifice fly by Spencer Brickhouse.
The Pirates completed the scoring with three runs in the seventh after Brickhouse and Eric Tyler had singles. Bryant Packard walked to load the bases. Kirk Morgan’s RBI single pushed the lead to 2-0 before T.J. Riles had a two-run double to left center.
Benton (2-0), a freshman right-hander, struck out eight in seven innings while allowing just two hits and no walks. Bridges added two perfect frames of relief, whiffing a pair.
Luke Watts (1-1) took the loss for the Mountaineers (5-6).
Tyler and Travis Watkins each had two hits for ECU, which outhit ASU, 8-2. The Mountaineers went 1-2 in the LeClair Classic.
St. John’s (10-1) defeated Western Carolina 9-1 in Sunday’s first game, dropping the Catamounts to 4-6. The Red Storm was 2-1 in Greenville for second place while Western went 0-3.
The Pirates start a two-game series at College of Charleston on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
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