GREENVILLE, N.C. – The 10th-ranked East Carolina Pirates handed Missouri State a 10-1 loss Sunday afternoon, pulling away from a narrow 2-0 lead through five innings to complete a three-game sweep of the Bears at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
Dylan Robertson led the MSU (11-8) offense with two doubles and a run scored in a 3-for-4 day, however the rest of the lineup was limited to a Spencer Nivens single and eight walks. Nivens ran his streak of reaching safely to 21 consecutive games.
Tyler Tscherter (3-1) went four strong innings in the start, scattering two runs on six hits and a walk with four strikeouts. ECU (16-4) took advantage of a misplayed fly ball that opened the door for an RBI single in the first and turned a leadoff bunt single into a run in the fourth for a 2-0 lead, which held through the fifth frame after Gage Bradley tossed a scoreless inning in relief.
The Pirates scored in each of their final three at bats against five additional MSU relievers, taking advantage of two walks to hit a sac fly in the sixth and adding two more when a similar fly ball to the first inning found the turf near the left field line for two more and a 5-0 advantage.
Another leadoff walk scored on a sacrifice fly in the seventh for 6-0, and ECU hit a two-run double and two-run homer through four batters in the eighth to make it 10-0.
Missouri State loaded the bases in both the eighth and ninth innings but came away with just Robertson touching home on a wild pitch.
The Bears conclude their five-game road swing on Tuesday with a 3 p.m. game at Saint Louis.
