NEW ORLEANS — Tulane scored the last five runs to top East Carolina, 6-3, on Sunday and take the American Conference series, 2-1.
The Pirates slipped to 22-14-1 for the season and 7-5 in league play going into a home game with N.C. State (24-12) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. (ACC Network Extra).
Grady Lanahan homered off the scoreboard in left with two out in the top of the first for a 1-0 ECU lead.
The Green Wave (19-18, 6-6 American) tied the score in the bottom of the first as a run scored on a double play.
Michael Kalinich homered to right for a 2-1 Pirates advantage in the second. ECU led, 3-1, in the fourth when Jack Herring scored on a wild pitch.
Tulane got RBI singles in the fourth from Kaikea Harrison, Tanner Chun and Hugh Pinkney to go ahead, 4-3.
The Wave added two runs in the seventh on an RBI double by Tye Wood and a single by Matthias Haas that brought in Wood.
Joe Webb started for the Pirates and went three and one-third innings. Charlie Hoagland (0-2) was next to the mound and got one out. Hoagland yielded two hits, two runs (both earned) and was charged with the loss.
J.D. Rodriguez (5-0) went five and one-third innings for the Green Wave. Jack Brafa came in for his first save after Brayden Bachman had walked for ECU with two out in the ninth.
Lanahan and Jeff Sabater had two hits each for the Pirates.
Lanahan left the game with an injury in the fourth as he was tagged out in a rundown as he made a dive for home.
Although the Pirates continue to have their pitching woes, that’s not what cost ECU the series against Tulane. The Pirates time after time hit the ball hard, only to see a shifted Wave fielder in perfect position. Conversely, Tulane hitters were quite willing to hit against the shift, and profited from their efforts. Several Pirate hitters continued pounding balls into the shifts used against them. Tulane doesn’t have a high output offense, nor do they have a pitching staff that can consistently pitch to the defensive shifts they use. For this weekend, at least, Tulane hitters actively sought to find the “empty” spot in the Pirate shift(s), something Pirate hitters either could not, or would not, do.