No. 22 Tulane Rallies Past No. 13 ECU, 7-6 to Split Doubleheader

Saturday, May 8

Greenville, NC

4:30 P.M.

Tulane University

25-16, 14-4

ECU

32-10, 14-5

Tulane

East Carolina

No. 22 Tulane Rallies Past No. 13 ECU, 7-6 to Split Doubleheader

May 8, 2021 | Baseball

Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Redshirt freshman Ethan Groff uncorked a monster two-run home run in the top half of the eighth inning to propel the No. 22 Tulane University baseball team to a come-from-behind 7-6 win over East Carolina University Saturday night inside Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

Win the win, Tulane improved to 25-16 overall and 14-4 in American Athletic Conference play to reclaim first place in the league. The Green Wave's win handed ECU handed the Pirates just their fourth loss at home this season.

Tulane also became just the second team this season to defeat ECU after it held the lead after seven innings. Coming into game three, ECU owned a 26-1 mark when leading after seven innings.

In addition, the Green Wave's win over ECU marked the second time this season Tulane had defeated a ranked opponent (No. 5 Mississippi State, Feb. 26).

Groff's two-run home run was his second hit of the night and his fourth home run of the year. The Orlando, Florida, native also scored a pair of runs. Redshirt junior Luis Aviles had a strong night at the plate as well, finishing with a pair of hits and drove in a team-high three runs.

Redshirt sophomore Collin Burns and freshman Bennett Lee also continued their consecutive on base streaks to 24 and 23 games, respectively.

As a team, Tulane outhit ECU 13-10. The Green Wave have now collected 10-or-more hits in 19 games this season.

Game two of the doubleheader featured five lead changes and nine pitchers between the two teams.

Tulane starter Donovan Benoit started the game for the Green Wave and struggled to find his form in the first two innings, giving up four runs on five hits. The Pensacola, Florida responded in a big way over the next three innings as he held the Pirates scoreless and scattered three hits.

Benoit finished the game by going 5.0 innings and struck out five. He exited the game in the sixth with the lead, but did not figure into the decision.

Redshirt junior Clifton Slagel earned the win for the Green Wave thanks to 1.2 innings of scoreless work. With the win, Slagel moved to 2-0 on the year.

Senior Keagan Gillies came on in the eighth inning to slam the door. The New Orleans native worked two scoreless innings and struck out a pair to collect his fourth save on the year.

Since suffering a blown save at then No. 5 Mississippi State back on Feb. 28, Gillies owns a 0.56 earned run average, has allowed just one earned run and has struck out 26 batters.

UP NEXT
Tulane concludes its series against No. 13-ranked ECU on at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. Game four will be aired live on ESPN+. The games can also be heard on the radio by tuning into WRBH 88.3 FM.

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