GREENVILLE — Trey Benton and Ryan Ross combined for a shutout as No. 17 East Carolina defeated Maryland 4-0 on Friday night at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
The duo totaled 12 strikeouts as the Pirates improved to 14-4.
In their first game back from absences due to injuries, Bryant Packard and Turner Brown drove in all of ECU’s runs.
“I didn’t think Trey looked comfortable early on but the big play of the game was (Andrew) Henrickson’s grab in the first robbing them of a home run,” said Pirates coach Cliff Godwin. “That goes over the wall, then we are down two early in the game.
“Then Trey settled in and pitched really well. They battled all seven innings he was out there and then Ryan comes in and gets the ground ball to second with the bases loaded to get us out of the inning. He was flooding the zone with three pitches. The pitching staff was dominant with 12 strikeouts and didn’t walk anyone.”
Benton (4-1) went six and two-thirds innings. He yielded nine hits and had eight strikeouts. Ross worked the final two and one-third innings. He allowed one hit while fanning four.
Packard had a two-run single up the middle in the third inning to score Brady Lloyd and Chandler Jenkins. Lloyd had reached on an error and Jenkins had a single through the right side. A bunt by Dusty Baker put runners at second and third.
Brown’s sacrifice fly in the fifth brought in Jenkins for a 3-0 ECU lead. Jenkins had singled through the right side and moved to third on a double by Baker.
A solo homer to right by Brown in the eighth completed the scoring.
Jenkins finished with two hits and scored twice.
The second matchup of the three-game series with Maryland (9-8) is scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m.
Leave a Reply