CLEARWATER, FL — Jacob Starling’s grand slam started top seed East Carolina on a surge that produced a 14-7 win over No. 8 seed South Florida to complete a 2-game sweep of the Bulls at BayCare Ballpark on Saturday, putting the Pirates in the championship game of the American Athletic Conference tournament.
The Pirates downed the Bulls, 3-1, on Saturday morning to set up a showdown for a berth in the league title game. It was ECU’s fourth win in a row since being upset by the Bulls in the first round of the tourney on Tuesday
USF (20-39) scored four runs with two out in the second inning for a 4-0 lead. Starling got the Pirates even with a grand slam to left in the bottom of the second. The umpires reviewed the play because the ball bounced back into the field.
The Bulls went up 7-4 in the third on a 2-run homer by Ben Rozenblum and a solo shot by Travis Sankovich.
Cam Clonch’s homer in the third got ECU within 7-5.
The Pirates put up five runs in the fourth to take control. Carter Cunningham had a sacrifice fly before Josh Moylan had a 2-run single. Clonch singled before Jacob Jenkins-Cowart gave ECU a 10-7 lead with a 2-run double.
Starling had a run-scoring double in the seventh. A 3-run eighth for the Pirates included a leadoff homer by Moylan, a sacrifice fly by Joey Berini and a run-scoring single by Alec Makarewicz.
Erik Ritchie (2-2) got the win with three and two-thirds innings of relief after Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman started and went four innings. Landon Ginn pitched the last one and one-third. Ritchie and Ginn kept the Bulls scoreless over the last five frames. Ritchie posted six of ECU’s eight strikeouts.
In the first game Saturday morning, Garrett Saylor (3-0) started and pitched into the ninth inning, before Ginn recorded a game-ending strikeout with the bases loaded for his second save.
Saylor yielded two hits and one earned run while walking one and striking out six.
Cunningham went 3-for-4 with a triple and an RBI for ECU, which outhit the Bulls, 10-2.
Cunningham’s triple in the fifth scored Lane Hoover for a 1-0 lead for the Pirates.
USF tied the score in the sixth on a solo homer by Jackson Mayo.
Alec Makarewicz doubled in the bottom of the sixth to bring in Ryley Johnson with the go-ahead run. Berini followed with an RBI single to score Makarewicz.
ECU (45-16) will meet No. 7 seed Tulane in the AAC final at noon on Sunday. The game will be televised on ESPN News.
A pair of home runs and 6 RBIs by Teo Banks helped the upstart Green Wave (17-40) topple 2nd-seed Houston 11-8 in in a decisive matchup Saturday night after losing to the Cougars (36-23) by an identical score Saturday afternoon.
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