GREENVILLE — There were plenty of highlights for the largest opening day crowd ever at Clark-LeClair Stadium on Friday as No. 11 East Carolina rolled past Rider, 16-2, but none was bigger than Parker Byrd’s eighth inning plate appearance.
Byrd drew a walk as he became the first player in NCAA Division I history to play with a prosthetic leg. The lower portion of Byrd’s right leg was removed after a boating accident in 2022.
“The coolest moment of the night,” said ECU coach Cliff Godwin of the situation that elicited an emotion-filled roar from a throng of 5,221.
The Pirates had taken control with seven runs in the first inning in support of Trey Yesavage, who had eight strikeouts in four innings. The only hit the junior right-hander yielded was on a solo homer by Kyle Neri in the third inning.
Chaz Myers, Luke Nowak, Carter Cunningham and Dixon Williams had a succession of singles that produced runs in the first.
Jacob Jenkins-Cowart had a 2-run double for ECU in the fourth. Jenkins-Cowart hit a solo homer off the scoreboard in the sixth. Cam Clonch had an RBI single in the seventh that brought in Bristol Carter.
The Pirates struck for five runs in the eighth after Neri’s second homer had cut the lead to 11-2. Clonch contributed a 2-run single to right.
George Washington transfer Chris Kahler followed Yesavage to the mound and fanned four in two innings.
Freshman Ethan Norby pitched two innings before Jackson Dilotrenzo threw a clean ninth with two fly outs and a ground out.
ECU looks to push its lead in the all-time series with Rider to 10-0 in a Saturday matchup slated for 2 p.m. (ESPN+).
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