GREENVILLE, N.C. – A pair of East Carolina bunt RBI singles in the bottom of the sixth spoiled strong pitching by Matt Jachec and Joey Hurth in Friday night's opener as the Sycamores fell to the host Pirates at the LeClair Classic, 5-4.
 
The Sycamores (5-3) and Pirates were tied up at 3-3 heading into the bottom of the sixth in a back-and-forth contest at Clark-LeClair Stadium on Friday night. The Pirates loaded the bases against ISU starter Matt Jachec (2-1) with one out in the inning before Ryder Giles and Zach Agnos both dropped down squeeze bunt singles to put East Carolina (4-5) ahead 5-3.
 
The Sycamores brought the game back to within one with a Sean Ross infield single scoring Jordan Schaffer in the top of the seventh inning. However, Indiana State was unable to keep the rally going leaving Diego Gines and Daunte Majors stranded in scoring position over the final three innings in falling in their inaugural matchup against East Carolina.
 
Josue Urdaneta paced the Sycamores with his fifth multi-hit game of the season as the redshirt sophomore second baseman went 3-for-5 from the plate. Sean Ross, Luis Hernandez, and Randall Diaz all posted multi-hit games in the contest with Diaz connecting on his first home run with the Sycamores to open ISU's scoring in the top of the third inning.
 
Jachec took his first loss of the 2022 season as the redshirt sophomore went 5.2 innings allowing eight hits and five runs (four earned), while striking out four. Jachec also walked his first two batters of the 2022 campaign in the loss. Joey Hurth closed out the contest allowing one hit over the final 2.1 innings while striking out three.
 
Jacob Jenkins-Cowart and Carter Cunningham both connected on two hits apiece as the Pirates recorded nine hits against the Indiana State pitching staff in the win. Jenkins-Cowart and Justin Wilcoxen both recorded doubles for the Pirates.
 
C.J. Mayhue (2-0) took the win as East Carolina utilized five pitchers on Friday night. Mayhue went 1.2 innings allowing one run in support of starter Jack Kuchmaner. Skylar Brooks (S, 2) went the final two innings in picking up his second save.
 
How They Scored

• The Pirates took the early lead in the bottom of the first as Jenkins-Cowart doubled home Brysonn Worrell, while Alec Makarewicz's sacrifice fly brought home Jenkins-Cowart to stake ECU to the 2-0 advantage.
• The Sycamores answered in the top of the third as Randall Diaz crushed the 0-1 offering from Kuchmaner over the left field fence for his first home run of the 2022 season to cut the lead down to 2-1.
• Indiana State took its first lead of the game in the top of the fourth as Parker Stinson and Grant Magill both recorded RBI on infield grounders scoring Sean Ross and Luis Hernandez to put ISU ahead 3-2.
• East Carolina tied the game up in the bottom of the fourth as Carter Cunningham scored on a dropped fly ball in centerfield to even the score at 3-3.
• The Pirates took the lead in the bottom of the sixth on a pair of RBI bunt singles off the bats of Ryder Giles and Zach Agnos to put the margin at 5-3.
• Indiana State mounted one final rally in the top of the seventh with Jordan Schaffer scoring on Sean Ross' infield single to put the final score at 5-4.

News & Notes

• Josue Urdaneta continued his team-leading eight-game hitting streak on Friday evening as the redshirt sophomore hit safely in each of his first three at-bats.
• Jordan Schaffer saw his 19-game hitting streak come to an end, but his walk in the top of the seventh inning extended his on-base streak to 20 games dating back to the 2021 season.
• Diego Gines' 11-game hitting streak came to an end following his 0-for-4 performance at the plate. However, his walk in the seventh inning extended his career-best on-base streak to 12 consecutive games.
• Urdaneta's three-hit game matched his season-best and was the 19th multi-hit game of his Sycamore career.
• The two-hit game by Randall Diaz marked his first multi-hit game in the Sycamore Blue & White.
• Indiana State's double-digit scoring streak came to an end after three games.
• ISU's home run streak continues with Diaz's solo shot in the third inning stretching it to six consecutive games with a Sycamore home run.
• Diaz also became the sixth different Indiana State player to record a home run in the 2022 season.
• Matt Jachec went 16.2 innings before surrendering his first walk in the 2022 season. The redshirt sophomore right-hander was tied for the NCAA lead in fewest walks and best strikeout-to-walk ratio entering the weekend.
• Indiana State recorded a season-high three stolen bases on Friday with Schaffer, Urdaneta, and Tyler Nelson all swiping bags in the game.
• Friday marked the first time an Indiana State player was not hit by a pitch in a game this season.
• Joey Hurth became the third Sycamore pitcher to reach double-digit strikeouts in 2022 as the sophomore right-hander now has 12 K's following his three-strikeout performance against ECU.
• The Sycamores fall to 0-1 all-time against East Carolina with the loss in the inaugural matchup between the two programs.

Up Next
The Sycamores are scheduled to take on No. 21 Maryland in the first game of day two at the LeClair Classic on Saturday. First pitch between the teams at Clark-LeClair Stadium is set for noon ET.
 
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