Baseball Evens Series with 5-4 Win at East Carolina

Saturday, April 29

Greenville, N.C.

3:00 p.m.

Tulane University

22-22, 9-5

East Carolina

23-21, 3-11

Tulane

East Carolina

Photo by: Parker Waters

Baseball Evens Series with 5-4 Win at East Carolina

Apr 29, 2017 | Baseball

Box Score

Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Tulane baseball scored three runs in the first inning and J.P France allowed one run over 7.1 innings, as the Green Wave evened the American Athletic Conference series at East Carolina with a 5-4 win Saturday afternoon at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

Tulane (22-22, 9-5 American) got consecutive home runs from Hunter Williams and Jarret DeHart to take the early lead, then added insurance runs in the seventh and ninth innings. The Pirates (23-21, 3-11 American) scored a run in the second, and three in the ninth.

France (4-3) struck out five, and scattered six hits and three walks in the win. Christian Colletti earned his seventh save of the season. ECU starter Trey Benton (3-3) pitched 4.0 innings and took the loss.

The series finale is at 2:30 p.m. CT Sunday. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network, and can be heard on 88.3 FM WRBH and the TuneIn Radio app.

"For France to hold them to one run through seven-plus innings was outstanding," Tulane head coach Travis Jewett said. "It gave us a chance to get it to Colletti, which is what we wanted to see in a perfect world. The run we scored in the top of the ninth seemed like just one at the time, but you can see how that was the difference."

Back-to-back home runs by Hunter Williams and Jarret DeHart gave Tulane a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Lex Kaplan started with a one-out single, and Williams hit a fly ball that the wind pushed just inside the left field foul pole for his ninth of the season. DeHart followed with a home run that cleared the light tower in right field for his ninth of the year.

East Carolina got a run back in the second after a hit batter, a walk, and an RBI single through the right side of the infield by Bryce Harman that made the score 3-1.

Grant Witherspoon hit a one-out triple to right center in the seventh, and scored on Kaplan's base hit up the middle. Kaplan went 3-for-3 Saturday – his third three-hit game in the last three contests. In the top of the ninth, Hunter Hope led off with a single, was bunted to second by Paul Gozzo, and scored on Witherspoon's single into right center to make the score 5-1.

After East Carolina's run in the second, France put up five straight scoreless innings, and retired seven in a row from the fifth to the seventh. He did not allow a hit between the fourth and the eighth, when he gave way to Colletti with runners on the corners and one out. Colletti induced a lineout double play to Willsey at second.

In the ninth, a leadoff single and an error were followed by a sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Wes Phillips and a two-run pinch hit home run by Luke Bolka that made the score 5-4. Colletti bounced back with two strikeouts to end the game.

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Tulane 5, East Carolina 4 (Apr 29, 2017 at Greenville, N.C.)
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Tulane.............. 300 000 101 - 5 10 1 (22-22, 9-5 American)
East Carolina....... 010 000 003 - 4 8 0 (23-21, 3-11 American)
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Pitchers: Tulane - FRANCE, J.P.; COLLETTI, Christian(8) and GOZZO, Paul. East Carolina -
BENTON, Trey; LANIER, Sam(5); COVINGTON, West(6); BRIDGES, Matt(7); WOLFE, Jacob(9);
SMITH, Tyler(9) and WATKINS, Travis.
Win-FRANCE, J.P.(4-3) Save-COLLETTI, Christian(7) Loss-BENTON, Trey(3-3) T-3:11 A-3379
HR TLN - WILLIAMS, Hunter (9); DeHART, Jarret (9).
HR ECU - BOLKA, Luke (7).
BENTON, T. faced 1 batter in the 5th.
WOLFE, J. faced 1 batter in the 9th.