WICHITA, KS — East Carolina topped Wichita State 7-3 on Sunday to take the American Athletic Conference series two games to one.
Jordan Boyer stole home in the first inning to give the Shockers a 1-0 lead, but the Pirates scored four runs in the third and maintained the advantage.
Eighth-ranked ECU improved to 39-12 overall and 18-3 in the AAC.
The surge in the third started with a 1-out double by Lane Hoover, who went 2-for-3 with two walks and two runs. Spencer Brickhouse walked before Alec Burleson had an RBI double to left that tied the score.
Turner Brown’s fielder’s choice brought in Brickhouse with the go-ahead run.
Burleson scored on a ground out by Jake Washer and Dusty Baker’s single through the right side gave the Pirates a 4-1 lead.
ECU tallied three in the seventh with a run-scoring bunt by Turner Brown and two errors by the Shockers (23-28, 7-14). The hosts had a 13-5 lead in hits but committed three errors compared to one for the Pirates.
Tyler Smith (7-0) went five innings for the win. He yielded eight hits, two runs (both earned) while walking two and striking out four. Zach Barnes, Evan Voliva, Cam Colmore and Burleson made relief appearances.
Burleson got the last two outs to strand a pair of baserunners. The Shockers left 14 on base.
ECU, which went 6-1 on a road stretch that included the trip to Wichita, returns home against Campbell on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
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