No. 12 ECU takes down Tulane in series opener, 9-5

Box Score (PDF)

NEW ORLEANS – Junior center fielder Grant Witherspoon drove in three runs and junior first baseman Trevor Jensen homered, but Tulane baseball dropped its series opener against No. 12 ECU, 9-5, Friday evening at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.

Witherspoon was 2-for-5 at the plate and tied the game with an RBI in the third inning and again with a two-run single in the fourth. Jensen hit his fifth home run of the season in the first inning to tie the score, 1-1. Witherspoon and sophomore second baseman Jonathon Artigues each collected two hits, as the Green Wave (22-5, 7-9 American Athletic Conference) outhit the Pirates, 8-7. ECU (31-12, 9-7 American) committed three errors and Tulane had two miscues, but the Pirates took advantage of nine walks and three hit batters.

Each team scored three runs in the fourth inning and the score remained knotted 5-5 until ECU scored two runs in the eighth and ninth innings to take the 9-5 lead. ECU’s Ryan Ross (1-3) earned the win with 1.2 innings as the third pitcher in relief of starter Chris Holba. Freshman Connor Pellerin (2-1) allowed one hit over 3.2 innings in relief of starter Kaleb Roper but took the loss.

“We had a pretty good offensive approach against their starter, and I thought our guys met the challenge,” Tulane head coach Travis Jewett said. “Offensively, I liked the way we attacked their guy. Our offense wasn’t the problem tonight. We gave them too many freebies. If we just take those out of the game, we win. We just gave them too many opportunities.”

After ECU plated a run in the top of the first, Jensen tied the game at 1-all in the bottom half with a massive solo home run down the left field line that hit the roof of a house beyond the left field wall. It was his fifth home run of the season and his fourth in the last eight games.

The Pirates took a 2-1 lead with a run in the second, but the Green Wave came back to tie it again in the bottom of the third. Artigues singled, moved to second on an errant pickoff throw and to third on a balk, then scored on Witherspoon’s RBI groundout to tie the score at 2-2.

Tulane responded to ECU runs once again in the fourth inning, with a matching three-run frame. Freshman left fielder David Bedgood singled to start the inning, then sophomore designated hitter Grant Mathews and sophomore shortstop Sal Gozzo walked to load the bases with no outs. Junior right fielder Tyler Heinrichs drew a one-out walk to score Bedgood before Witherspoon dropped in a two-run single in shallow left field to tie the game, 5-5.

The Pirates scored in the first inning on a double and two errors, then took a 2-1 lead in the second on an RBI single by designated hitter Chandler Jenkins. In the fourth, ECU scored three runs on an RBI double by third baseman Connor Litton, a sacrifice fly by shortstop Turner Brown and a run-scoring single by left fielder Bryant Packard.

After three scoreless innings with the game tied, 5-5, ECU took the lead in the top of the eighth with two runs on a bases-loaded walk and hit batter. In the ninth, Jeremy Whitehead hit a sacrifice fly and center fielder Drew Henrickson scored on a safety squeeze bunt to make the score 9-5.

Tulane and ECU continue the series at 2 p.m. Saturday. Tickets can be purchased at TulaneTix.com or in person at the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office in the James W. Wilson Jr. Center. The game will be streamed online and can be heard on 88.3 FM WRBH or via TuneIn Radio.

Follow Green Wave Baseball on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat (TulaneBaseball). Follow Tulane Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

ECU 9, Tulane 5 (May 04, 2018 at New Orleans, La.)
———————————————————————-
ECU…………….. 110 300 022 – 9 7 3 (31-12, 9-7)
Tulane………….. 101 300 000 – 5 8 2 (22-25, 7-9)
———————————————————————-
Pitchers: ECU – HOLBA, Chris; AGNOS, Jake(4); KIRKPATRICK, Davis(5); ROSS, Ryan(7);
BENTON, Trey(9) and WASHER, Jake. Tulane – ROPER, Kaleb; PELLERIN, Connor(5); WHITE, Ben(8) and OWEN, Acy.
Win-ROSS, Ryan(1-3) Loss-PELLERIN, Connor(2-1) T-3:28 A-1802
HR TLN – JENSEN, Trevor (5).
Weather: 81 Cloudy, Wind SSE @ 6 mph
HOLBA, C. faced 3 batters in the 4th.