GREENVILLE — Solo home runs by Turner Brown in the seventh and Spencer Brickhouse in the eighth sent East Carolina to a 6-5 American Athletic Conference win over Central Florida on Sunday.
The 14th-ranked Pirates took all three games with UCF in their opening AAC series at Clark-LeClair Stadium and improved to 18-6 overall.
The Knights (15-9, 0-3 AAC) got home runs from Ray Alejo and Tyler Osik to take a 2-0 lead in the top of the first.
ECU answered with three runs in the bottom of the first. Alec Burleson had a single that scored Bryant Packard. Brown had a sacrifice fly that brought in Brickhouse and Burleson came home on a triple by Thomas Francisco.
Alejo and Osik each had RBIs in the fifth as UCF regained the lead at 4-3. Seth Cadell’s single to left plated Brown as the Pirates tied the score at 4 in the bottom of the fifth.
Brown and Brickhouse both homered to right, allowing ECU to withstand Osik’s third RBI in the top of the ninth.
Jake Kuchmaner, who threw a perfect game at Maryland a week earlier in his last outing, started and went four and one-third innings. The sophomore left-hander allowed two hits and three runs (all earned) while walking four and striking out three.
Evan Voliva (3-1) got the win and Burleson picked up his second save.
Brown was 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Francisco and Caddell each had two hits and an RBI as the Pirates totaled 11 hits. Packard was 1-for-2 with a double and a walk.
ECU starts an AAC series at South Florida (12-10, 1-2) on Friday at 7 p.m.
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