Bearcats Go Toe to Toe with ECU but Drop 3 of 4

This series was certainly more competitive than the last time that the Cincinnati Bearcats and East Carolina Pirates tangled on the baseball diamond.

Earlier this spring, East Carolina University won 4 straight against a Bearcats team that looked downright uncompetitive for much of the weekend down in Greenville, North Carolina.

This weekend had a very different feel—three of the four games were close and Cincinnati could have easily come away with a series victory against the number 11 ranked team in the country.

But things didn’t quite add up that way.

Cincinnati lost 3 of their 4 weekend contests to East Carolina.

In Game 1 of the series, ECU laid the smack down on Cincinnati ace Garrett Schoenle, roughing him up for 7 runs in 2 innings of work. Max Bergmann did an admirable job in relief, eating up 6 innings out of the pen.

All told, ECU won that one by an 8-4 mark.

In Game 2, the Bearcats hung tough and pulled off a 7-6 victory in extra innings, scoring a pair of 10th inning runs on a throwing error by ECU second baseman Connor Norby.

On Saturday, ECU got past Cincinnati again 7-6, despite a 4 RBI day by grad student third baseman Joey Bellini.

Today, ECU simply outlasted Cincinnati in a 5-2 game that was a nailbiter until the Pirates posted a pair of runs in the top of the ninth inning.

Cincinnati, now 25-24 overall and 14-14 in the American, returns to action next weekend in their regular season finale series. They play host to another American power—the Tulane Green Wave. Check back with Down the Drive for full coverage of the contests.