GREENVILLE — Cliff Godwin watched the end of an 11-8 win over Central Florida on a computer on Saturday and he liked what he saw.
“That was a really gutsy win by our players,” said the Pirates coach, who was ejected in the seventh inning for arguing a ball call.
ECU surged twice offensively after dropping the second game of a doubleheader to the Knights on Friday. The Pirates scored six runs in the first inning and added five more over their last three turns at the plate following a scoreless lull that spanned four frames and allowed UCF to close within 6-5.
Thomas Francisco had a solo homer in the sixth and was ECU’s offensive leader, going 2-for-3 with two walks, three runs and a pair of RBIs.
The Pirates added two runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth after Godwin’s departure.
“I was on the mound,” said Cam Colmore, who improved to 5-0 after coming on in relief of Jake Kuchmaner. “I saw him look back in the dugout and get the boys fired up. You could feel the place, when he got thrown out, … the electricity just shoot up.
“It just got the dugout going. You saw the offense respond right after that happened.”
Colmore fanned four in three innings. Matt Bridges kept the Knights scoreless in the seventh and eighth with five whiffs.
The Knights made some noise in the ninth with back-to-back solo homers by Josh Crouch and Ben McCabe in a drizzle.
The Pirates pushed their record to 28-6 overall and 10-1 in the AAC as Ryder Giles recorded a strikeout to end the game.
ECU plays UCF (18-21, 7-7) on Sunday at noon to close the series.
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