Pirates take series with UConn

Staff report
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Post-game audio: Cliff Godwin, Jacob Wolfe, Travis Watkins...

GREENVILLE — A two-run homer by Travis Watkins in the bottom of the fourth inning on Sunday lifted East Carolina to a 3-2 win over Connecticut in the deciding contest of a three-game American Athletic Conference series.

Watkins' blast overcame a 2-1 Huskies lead. ECU pitchers Jacob Wolfe, Sam Lanier and Joe Ingle kept UConn scoreless the rest of the way.

The Pirates improved to 26-14 overall and 7-5 in the AAC. The Huskies slipped to 21-18 on the season and 6-5 in the league.

ECU visits UConn for another three-game conference series, May 6-8.

Parker Lamm doubled to lead off for the Pirates in the bottom of the first and a sacrifice bunt by Charlie Yorgen moved him to third. Eric Tyler picked up an RBI on a grounder to short as ECU took a 1-0 lead.

A walk to Tyler Gnesda, a double by Bryan Daniello and a sacrifice fly by Connor Buckley tied the score at 1 in the top of the second.

The Huskies went ahead 2-1 in the third after Aaron Hill bunted his way aboard and stole second. Jack Sundberg's ground out to second allowed Hill to take third and he scored on a ground out by Willy Yahn.

Kirk Morgan was hit by a pitch in the fourth before Watkins connected against William Montgomerie (3-2) for his third home run of the season.

"It was a fastball in, the same pitch I had been beaten on earlier in the game, but I backed off the plate a little but and got the head of the bat to it," said the Pirates catcher of the blast to left.

Wolfe (5-3) pitched seven and two-thirds innings. He allowed four hits, two earned runs and walked three while striking out five.

Lanier worked briefly, throwing two pitches and yielding a hit before Ingle came on.

Ingle went the last inning and one-third, stranding one baserunner in the eighth and two in the ninth. He allowed one hit and struck out two, including a whiff to end the game with the potential tying run at second.

UConn outhit the Pirates, 6-3, the third time in the series the visitors had more hits.

"This weekend every single pitch was the difference between winning and losing," said ECU coach Cliff Godwin. " ... It's good for us because you learn from it. I thought we played looser today.

"Our guys have pressed and played under some pressure from expectations. Last year nobody had any expectations for us. This year, media, fans, me included, our guys have played differently.

"They've played tight at times. Yesterday, I wasn't proud of the way we played because we didn't play loose and aggressive. We played tentative and complained a lot to the umpires. That's not us. Today, I thought we played more like ourselves, even though we only got three hits."

The Pirates visit N.C. State at 6 p.m. tonight.

ECU downed the Wolfpack 15-3 on Tuesday in Greenville. The Pirates have scored just seven runs in going 2-2 since then.

State is No. 7 in the NCAA RPI standings. ECU was No. 32 in the rankings of April 22.

PAGE UPDATED 04/25/16 02:22 AM.

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