GREENVILLE, N.C. – No. 12 East Carolina outscored UCF 28-12 and racked up 30 hits to post an American Athletic Conference doubleheader sweep and secure its first league victory of the season Thursday at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium.  

The Pirates (23-8, 3-2 AAC) run ruled the Knights (17-14, 1-4 AAC) 17-7 in seven innings in the opener before completing the twinbill brooming with an 11-4 win in the nightcap. 

East Carolina will attempt to sweep its fifth weekend opponent of the season in the series finale Friday at Noon.  

Game One: East Carolina 17, UCF 7 (Seven Innings) 
Trey Yesavage (5-0) took a no hitter into the sixth inning to collect his fifth victory of the campaign as he allowed four runs on three hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Ruddy Gomez (4-2) was tagged with the loss after ECU touched him up for 12 runs (eight earned) on eight hits. 

Alec Makarewicz produced a monster effort at the plate, going 4-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBI, while Lane Hoover finished with three hits, three runs scored and two driven in. Tom Josten paced the visitors with a hit, two runs scored and two RBI.  

Hoover bounced an infield single up the middle to lead off the bottom of the first and reached third on a pair of groundouts, but Gomez tallied a strikeout to keep the contest scoreless.  

East Carolina cashed in on a bases loaded situation in the home half of the second. Luke Nowak and Makarewicz singled and Joey Berini was hit by a pitch with one away. Gomez notched another strikeout, but Hoover didn’t miss on the first pitch he saw, bouncing it down the right field line for a double and two RBI. Another run scored on the play via a throwing error in right and Jacob Jenkins-Cowart continued his hot start to the week by lacing a triple into the right center gap to plate Hoover for a 4-0 Pirate advantage through two complete. 

The ECU hit parade continued in the third. Jacob Starling drew a leadoff walk before Nowak shot a single through the left side to put the Pirates in business. Carter Cunningham kept things moving with a single up the middle to plate Starling and Makarewicz hit a fly ball to center that was plenty far to allow Nowak to score from third on the sac fly. Berini capped the three-run frame with an RBI single to make it 7-0.  

The Pirates really put the pedal down in the bottom of the fifth, producing a five spot to catapult in front 12-0. Cunningham ripped a leadoff double down the left field line before Makarewicz laced a two bagger of his own into the left center gap to score Cunningham. Moylan put the exclamation mark of the inning with a three-run blast to right center.  

The Knights utilized the long ball in large part to score seven runs in the sixth and seventh frames, pulling withing five, but East Carolina had the response after the stretch. The Pirates loaded the bases with one out thanks to a pair of singles by Justin Wilcoxen and Hoover and a UCF error on a fielder’s choice play that allowed Moylan to reach safely. Pinch hitter Cam Clonch came through in the clutch with a two-run single that extended the ECU upper hand to 14-7 and Makarewicz followed with a two-run single a couple of batters later to put the Pirates on the brink of the run rule. A wild pitch with Nathan Chrismon at the dish saw Cunningham scamper home to end the contest.  

Game Two: East Carolina 11, UCF 5 
Carter Spivey (3-1) did not allow a hit until the fifth inning in notching his third win of the season. The reigning and 2023 Preseason AAC Pitcher of the Year yielded just two runs on three hits while fanning six batters against two walks against a free-swinging UCF offense. Jacob Marlowe (3-4) surrendered seven runs on six hits with two walks and a strikeout. 

Makarewicz put together another impressive performance offensively, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI. He totaled seven hits, five runs scored and six RBI in the two contests. Ryan McCrystal, Berini and Moylan also chipped in with two-hit efforts while no visiting batter notched more than a single base knock.  

Following a relatively quiet opening inning, East Carolina made a massive statement in the bottom of the second with a nine-run outburst. With one out, Makarewicz sizzled a 1-2 offering off the wall in center for a triple before Berini unloaded on 1-0 pitch and sent it sailing over the wall in right for his fourth home run of the season. Moylan, Nowak and Makarewicz all chipped in with two-run base hits (double, double and single) in the frame before UCF botched a run down and sailed the ball to the backstop – allowing Makarewicz to stroll home. 

McCrystal made it a 10-run Pirate advantage in the bottom of the fifth, plating Berini who had tripled with one out. The Knights cut their deficit a little bit in the sixth and seventh innings with two runs in each frame, but a Ryley Johnson RBI single stretched the ECU lead back to seven at 11-4. UCF would notch a consolation run in the top of the ninth.  

Postgame Notes Graphic
  • The Pirates won their seventh weekend series of the season in eight attempts.
  • East Carolina has won five straight over UCF and 16 of the last 20 meetings.
  • ECU improved to 19-2 at home in 2023.
  • The Pirates notched their highest scoring inning of the season (nine) in the second frame of game two.
  • East Carolina has recorded double-digit runs and hits in each of its last three outings.
  • Makarewicz posted his second four-hit effort of the campaign in game one.
  • Wilcoxen extended his current hitting streak to 14 games with a single in both ends of the doubleheader.