GREENVILLE — East Carolina overcame an uncharacteristic start by sophomore left-hander Jake Agnos for an 8-2 win over Western Carolina at Clark-LeClair Stadium on Saturday,
The teams conclude the season-opening series with a 1 p.m. game today.
Tyler Smith pitched four scoreless innings to get the win Saturday and Spencer Brickhouse belted his second home run in ECU’s 2-0 start.
“Jake (Agnos) didn’t have his stuff today, but I told him if you are not going to pitch good, then make sure you do it when we score a lot of runs,” said fourth-year Pirates coach Cliff Godwin. “I thought Tyler did a nice job coming in and getting a quick 1-2-3 for us in the fourth inning and pitched well along with (Matt) Bridges and (West) Covington.
“We will keep trying to piece the bullpen together and using those type guys because we definitely have more depth than we’ve ever had here.”
Brickhouse’s three-run homer was the highlight of a five-run first inning and the Pirates went on to lock down the series while improving to 18-2 all-time against the Catamounts.
ECU had a 10-7 lead in hits. Nick Barber, Bryant Packard and Alec Burleson each had two hits for the Pirates. Barber and Brady Lloyd scored two runs apiece for ECU.
Burleson and Dwanya Williams-Sutton each had a pair of RBIs.
Western center fielder Matthew Koehler went 3-for-5 with an RBI but also was charged with the game’s lone error.
Agnos threw 73 pitches in three innings and yielded three hits. He allowed two runs, both earned, while walking three and striking out four.
Smith had one strikeout and no walks. He gave up three hits. Smith threw 42 pitches, 32 for strikes.
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