GREENVILLE — With dominant pitching from Trey Yesavage, No. 13 East Carolina defeated Rice, 8-2 ,on Thursday night at Clark-LeClair Stadium to maintain a 1-game lead over second-place Texas San Antonio.

Jacob Jenkins-Cowart and Justin Wilcoxen hit 3-run homers for ECU.

The Pirates improved to 38-13 overall and 17-8 in league play in snapping a 5-game losing streak.

The Roadrunners (31-21, 16-9) kept pace with a 14-1 victory in seven innings at Florida Atlantic.

Yesavage (11-1) allowed just two hits and one run (earned) over five and two-thirds innings while issuing four walks and striking out seven.

Ethan Norby picked up his second save after relief stints by Aaron Grollier and Jaden Winter.

Norby yielded no hits and no runs over the last two and two-thirds innings. He walked two and struck out one. He hit two batters as the Owls dropped to 22-32 on the season and 11-14 in the AAC despite a complete game from Parker Smith (4-5).

Jenkins-Cowart’s blast in the fourth put ECU ahead to stay. Wilcoxen’s round-tripper in the eighth closed the scoring.

Ryan McCrystal and Dixon Williams each had two hits with a double in the win. Jacob Starling had a double and scored three runs.