East Carolina sweeps baseball in three-game series
Baseball suffered back-to-back losses last weekend against East Carolina University.
The Owls welcomed the Pirates back to Reckling Park for the first time since 2016 for their first home conference series of the 2025 season. Rice entered the series with a 6-20 overall record and a 1-2 record in American Athletic Conference play, while ECU boasted a 15-10 overall record and was undefeated in the AAC.
Rice has faced difficulty winning games against ECU in the past. In their last matchup of the 2024 season, Rice overcame an early 7-1 deficit to come within one run by the bottom of the sixth inning, but were unable to keep ECU from scoring in the seventh, ultimately falling 8-7.
With Rice taking three losses last weekend, ECU extended their winning streak over Rice to eight.
ECU holds the NCAA record for the most tournament appearances without a World Series appearance and has finished in the top slot in AAC standings every year since 2021.
Led by new head coach David Pierce, the Owls played a strong Friday game. Junior pitcher Davion Hickson posted the longest start of the season. Through those eight innings, he threw nine strikeouts – the most by an Owl this season.
Pierce said Hickson’s stillness between pitches is one of his defining characteristics.
“He competed really well,” Pierce said. “He was locked in, and he gave us a chance to win. That’s what you look for from a Friday night starter, a guy that’s going to go out there and compete to give you a chance to win.”
Freshman outfielder Blaine Brown kept the Owls in contention with a late sixth-inning homer over the right wall, lowering the four-run deficit to two. This was his second home run of the season and extended his hitting streak to eight games.
After Friday night, Pierce said he wanted to see the team put more pressure on ECU to force them to make mistakes.
“You look at these close games and one team doesn’t make the mistakes that the other team makes, and that’s the difference in the game,” Pierce said. “Until we do that, guys are going to have their best outings against us.”
During the Saturday game, Rice took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, then redshirt freshman Colin Robson scored again in the seventh, extending the lead to three.
Senior pitcher J.D. McCracken held ECU scoreless for seven innings before letting up three runs in the eighth and ninth innings, tying the game. ECU ultimately scored two more runs in the eleventh inning, clinching their second win of the series.
In the final game against ECU on Sunday, the Owls trailed five runs until junior pinch hitter Jacob Devenny fired a three-run homer. Freshman shortstop Michael Zito later scored the fourth run, and senior outfielder Tobias Motley brought in the fifth run with a solo home run in the eighth inning, bringing the Owls within three runs.
The Owls loaded the bases in the ninth inning, approaching a tie game, but the Pirates ultimately ended the game by catching Zito’s fly ball in the left field.
Since Pierce joined as head coach following José Cruz Jr.’s firing March 13, the Owls have played nine games, and continue to hold a losing record. Despite this, Pierce said he appreciates how the players have positively responded to his leadership.
“I’m so impressed with their attitude of really wanting to be pushed, and I think they’re going to continue to respond,” Pierce said. “Even though we lost, I still saw a lot of fight.”
Pierce said there is a lingering awkwardness within the organization due to the nature of his hiring. Pierce said that while it was an unconventional move to start immediately, he felt there was no time to waste.
“It’s just kind of uncomfortable for people,” Pierce said. “[I’m] trying to make people as comfortable as possible. I’m a fast learner when it comes to baseball, and this is what I came to do, so my goal is to try to fast forward this progress as quick as possible.”
Rice will face the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley April 2 at 6:30 p.m. at Reckling Park.
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