GREENVILLE — No. 15 East Carolina overcame deficits of four and five runs against No. 14 Campbell on Tuesday night before a crowd of 4,663 at Clark-LeClair Stadium, but the Camels stranded two ECU runners in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth for a 14-13 win.
Campbell (40-11) has taken three 1-run wins over the Pirates (38-15) this season.
“Our guys battled,” said ECU coach Cliff Godwin on the Pirate radio network. “There’s no errors on the board, but we didn’t play good defense tonight. There were plays out there that we’ve got to make.”
ECU took a 13-11 lead into the ninth. Logan Jordan was credited with an infield single to start the inning. Grant Knipp had an RBI double on a fly ball that appeared to be misjudged. Max Weller followed with a run-scoring double for a tie at 13.
The go-ahead run came in after Weller stole third and Bryce Arnold hit a grounder to short.
Josh Moylan’s 2-run double in the eighth provided the Pirates with a 13-11 lead.
ECU plated six runs in the seventh to tie the score at 11. The frame included an RBI single by Lane Hoover, a 2-run double by Justin Wilcoxen and a 3-run homer over the scoreboard by Moylan.
Lawson Harrill’s 3-run homer was the big blow in a 5-run seventh for the visitors.
Jarrod Belbin had a 2-run homer for the Camels in the first and a solo homer in the third.
The Pirates scored five runs in the fifth inning to lead 5-4 as Joey Berini had a 2-run single and Alec Makarewicz hit a 2-run homer.
ECU used eight pitchers with Carter Spivey (6-3) taking the loss. Six Campbell pitchers issued 11 walks and hit three batters with Jackson Roberts (2-0) getting the win.
The Pirates left 15 runners on base while the Camels stranded 10.
ECU begins a 3-game American Athletic Conference series at South Florida (19-34, 7-14 AAC) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+). The Pirates are 12-6 in league play, one half-game behind first place Houston (12-5), which hosts Cincinnati for a 3-game set that starts Thursday.
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