East Carolinian

Issue date: 3/19/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Travis Bartlett

The ECU baseball team unleashed its bats this week as the Pirates taught two Virginia teams the art of swat. ECU destroyed Norfolk State, 26-6 and beat Richmond, 15-4.

On a crisp Wednesday evening, ECU found itself down by two runs in the top of the fourth inning as it allowed a two-run homer to left to Norfolk State leadoff hitter John Lynch.

Down by two, the Pirates took the lead in the third inning when they scored eight runs-and they never looked back.

After a game-tying balk, Stephen Batts drove in Ryan Wood with an RBI single to take the lead, 3-2.

"We got backed in a corner," said head coach Billy Godwin. "And we came out fighting."

Later on in the inning, catcher Jared Avchen added his second of two homeruns with a two-run blast to left.

"It's always good to come back from behind," said Avchen. "Baseball is about confidence and a lot of our guys are confident."

The two round-trip tickets marked a personal best for Avchen, as he accomplished the first multi-homerun game of his career. Avchen's two homeruns were just two of the Pirates' eight dingers.

The Pirates earned 26 runs on 27 hits against Norfolk State and all 13 batters earned at least one hit. ECU put together an eight-run rally in the third inning and a 10-run parade in the seventh.

"It's good momentum," said Godwin. "And momentum is good anytime in this game."

On Tuesday, with a blanket of gray clouds looming over Lewis field, the Pirates put on a clinic as they squashed the Richmond Spiders, 15-4.

A tied game going into the third inning turned into a six run batting practice for the lethal ECU offense.

With two men on base, Wood bunted Austin Homan home and advanced Trent Whitehead to third. Batts walked to load up the bases and Kyle Roller was walked to give the Pirates the free run.

With no outs and the bases still loaded, Brandon Henderson cranked his third career grand slam over the left field wall to make it 8-2.

"It was one of those you hit so well that it felt like you didn't hit it," Henderson said of the at-bat.

The Pirates got on the ball early as the top of the order brought home two runs in the first inning. The Spiders would then answer back in the top of the third off of a Mike Mergenthaler two-run roundtrip ticket to the plate as ECU reliever Patrick Somers entered the game.

In the sixth inning, Roller added to the hitting fest with a three run bomb. Roller had runners on the corners and blasted one the other way deep into The Jungle.

In tandem with the Diamond Bucs' hitting show, the Pirates held down the win with a strong defensive performance on the other side of the ball. Brad Mincey set a new personal record with five strikeouts in a game, and overall, the ECU hurlers earned 13 strikeouts against Richmond.

The Pirates closed out the game by a score of 15-4 as Wood moved over from second to finish the game from the mound.

ECU kicks off its first conference matchup this weekend as it hosts the UCF [7-12] for a three-game series.



This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.

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