GREENVILLE — Seth Caddell had a walkoff RBI single up the middle in the 11th inning Friday to lift No. 19 East Carolina to a 2-1 win over William & Mary in the season opener for both clubs.
Alec Burleson singled through the left side to start the last frame for the Pirates. He advanced to second on a balk. Thomas Francisco singled down the right field line to move Burleson to third.
ECU coach Cliff Godwin brought Trevor Losito in to run for Burleson. Caddell connected with a 2-1 pitch from Jacob Haney for the game winner.
Burleson, a junior left-hander, threw the first pitch of the season for a called strike at 4:01 p.m.
The matchup was scoreless until Brandon Raquet homered to right-center off Burleson to start the seventh.
Burleson allowed six hits and one walk while striking out six through seven innings. Trystan Kimmel, Matt Bridges, Cam Colmore and Garrett Saylor (1-0) combined to keep the Tribe scoreless the rest of the way.
The Pirates got the tying run in the bottom of the eighth after a leadoff double by Ryder Giles. Lane Hoover’s hit put Giles at third for a sacrifice fly by Thomas Francisco.
ECU had a 9-8 edge in hits as Burleson, Francisco and Giles had two each. Zach Agnos had the first hit of the season for the Pirates in the third.
The teams play the second contest in a 3-game series on Saturday at 2 p.m. Right-hander Tyler Smith (7-1 in 2019) is scheduled to start for ECU.
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