Tulane falls to No. 12 ECU, 8-3

Box Score (HTML)

NEW ORLEANS – Junior right fielder Tyler Heinrichs homered and freshman catcher Frankie Niemann doubled in a run, but Tulane baseball fell to No. 12 ECU, 8-3, Saturday afternoon at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.

Heinrich’s solo home run in the third provided the only run for the Green Wave (22-26, 7-10 American Athletic Conference) until Niemann doubled in the eighth. Junior center fielder Grant Witherspoon drew a bases-loaded walk to pull the Wave within three runs, but the Pirates (32-12, 10-7 American) added two in the ninth to reach the final score.

Junior Will McAffer pitched a season-long 4.1 innings in relief of sophomore starter Keagan Gillies (5-5). McAffer struck out four and allowed two earned runs. ECU starter Alec Burleson (3-1) went 7.1 innings in the win and Zach Barnes pitched the final 1.2 innings to earn the save.

“You have to tip your cap to their pitcher,” Tulane head coach Travis Jewett said. “We have shown some ability to hang in there, and we got into a situation where the game was in reach. I don’t think we’re all the way down, but our backs are against the wall. We’re going to have to set the tone (tomorrow) and try to establish this thing early and jump out and see what we can do.”

Heinrichs hit his fourth home run of the season in the third inning – a moonshot over the protective netting in left field to cut Tulane’s early deficit to 4-1.

Niemann hit an RBI double to the right field wall in the eighth inning to score senior designated hitter Matt Rowland and make the score 6-2. Rowland was hit by a pitch to start the frame and sophomore shortstop Sal Gozzo followed with a single, representing Tulane’s first baserunner and first hit since the third inning. Niemann was a defensive replacement after starter Acy Owen was hit by a foul ball in the seventh.

Following Niemann’s double, sophomore second baseman Jonathon Artigues drew a walk to load the bases, and Witherspoon saw four pitches out of the zone to plate Gozzo to make the score 6-3 with one out. A pop out and strikeout, however, ended the rally.

Witherspoon ended the game with the RBI walkand his conference-leading 19^th double of the season, which came in the first inning. Tulane collected four hits while ECU finished with 10 hits, and each team committed one error.

The Pirates scored their first run of the game on a balk in the second inning, then plated three in the third on a two-run home run by right fielder Dwanya Williams-Sutton and an RBI single by second baseman Brady Lloyd. Third baseman Connor Litton singled home a run in the fifth and hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh to make the score 6-1. Williams-Sutton hit a solo homer in the ninth and Lloyd drew a walk to reach the 8-3 final.

Tulane and ECU conclude the series at noon Sunday. 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.

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ECU 8, Tulane 3 (May 05, 2018 at New Orleans, La.)
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ECU…………….. 013 010 102  –  8 10  1      (32-12, 10-7)
Tulane………….. 001 000 020  –  3  4  1      (22-26, 7-10
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Pitchers: ECU – BURLESON, Alec; WILLIAMS, Gavin(8); BARNES, Zach(8) and WASHER, Jake. Tulane –
GILLIES, Keagan; McAFFER, Will(5); GREEN, Ryan(9) and OWEN, Acy; NIEMANN, Frankie.
Win-BURLESON, Alec(3-1)  Save-BARNES, Zach(2)  Loss-GILLIES, Keagan(5-5)  T-3:00  A-1574

HR ECU – WILLIAMS-SUTTON, D. 2 (3).
HR TLN – HEINRICHS, Tyler (4).

Weather: 75 Cloudy, Wind NNW @ 9 mph
GILLIES faced 1 batter in the 5th.
WILLIAMS, G. faced 2 batters in the 8th.