#25 ECU Pirates Take Two from Radford

East Carolina is now 19-3 all-time versus the Highlanders

CUSA Fans Director of Content and East Carolina sports correspondent Thomas "Bubba" Rosenbaum provides us with his latest update on the ECU Pirates baseball team.

East Carolina sophomore Bailey Daniels earned his first win as a Pirate on Tuesday, striking out nine in 5.2 innings of work during the 8-5 victory over Radford. PHOTO: Bob Powell

Thursday, March 14

Coming off an emotional high like the Pirates were following their impressive sweep of No. 6 Cal State Fullerton, they could have experienced a letdown against a Radford team that came in with a 6-8 record.

However, an extremely confident East Carolina team displayed a business-like approach and didn’t allow that to happen.

No. 25 ECU (13-6) was able to get some young pitchers some much-needed work while continuing to swing the bats well in its two-game set with the Highlanders. The Pirates have won seven straight and 11 of its last 12 games.

Game 1 - East Carolina 8, Radford 5

The 25 th ranked Pirates used a 5-run fifth inning and strong pitching performance by Bailey Daniels to collect an 8-5 victory on Tuesday afternoon.

The sophomore right-hander Daniels recorded his first victory in an East Carolina uniform, as he worked 5.2 innings and struck out nine. He allowed three runs, all of which were earned, on four hits.

The game was tied at 1 through four innings, but ECU tallied five runs in the fifth to open up a 6-1 lead. Drew Schieber and Dale Mollenhauer each had run-scoring doubles in the frame.

Radford trimmed the lead to 6-3 with two runs in the sixth, but the Pirates would score two in the bottom of the seventh to push the lead back to five.

The Highlanders scored two runs off ECU reliever Mike Flye in the eighth to produce the final margin of victory.

The Pirates’ closer Shane Mathews came on in the ninth and recorded the Highlanders in order to notch his sixth save of the season.

Designated hitter Raphael Turner and 1B/3B Alex Gregory collected two hits apiece for Radford.

Game 2 - East Carolina 16, Radford 3

After taking game one on Tuesday, ECU established control early in this one. After falling behind 1-0, the Pirates answered with five runs in the bottom of the first and cruised to a 16-3 win over Radford University on Wednesday afternoon at Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

East Carolina banged out 16 hits, as nine players in the Pirates’ line-up hit safely in the game. Five Pirates—Ryan Tousley, Harrison Eldridge, Dale Mollenhauer, Drew Schieber and Broc Sutton—recorded multi-hit games.

Ryan Tousley led the ECU offensive attack. The second-year Pirate finished the day 3-of-4 at the plate while smashing two home runs and totaling 5 RBIs in the game.

The Pirates’ slugger erased a 1-0 deficit with his first inning grand slam before following with a solo shot in the third.

Brandon Henderson and David Forbes also homered in the game for East Carolina. Henderson’s was a solo shot in the first while David Forbes also had a round-tripper for us.

After taking a 10-2 lead into the bottom of the 8 th, ECU plated six runs to build the margin to 16-2.

ECU freshman right-hander Mike Anderson (1-0) picked up the win in his first start of the season. The 6’3”, 212-pounder went five innings, allowing three hits and one run.

Joe O’Malley, Cody Leggett and Chris Powell all saw time in relief. Leggett, who was making his first appearance of the season, retired Radford in order in the seventh.

Pirate pitchers limited the Highlanders to only seven hits in the game and no Radford player had more than one.

RU starter J.B. Blixt lasted only three innings after ECU scored nine runs (all earned) on eight hits.

Up next: March 16-March 17—The Pirates will welcome Big Ten foe Michigan to town for a three-game series. The series will open on Friday and conclude with a doubleheader on Saturday.

*A Michigan preview will be posted Thursday PM.