By MALCOLM GRAY

ECU Athletic Media Relations

 

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Tournament Most Outstanding Player Hunter Allen went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and pitcher Nick Durazo worked five innings of one-hit shutout relief, as No. 2-seeded East Carolina was a 9-1 winner against top-seeded Houston on Sunday to win the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship at Bright House Field.

The Pirates, who went 4-0 in the six-day, eight-team tournament, earn The American’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. It is East Carolina’s first conference tournament title since the Pirates won the 2002 Conference USA crown.

Luke Bolka hit a two-run home run for East Carolina (40-20), which scored eight of its nine runs with two outs. Left fielder Luke Lowery went 2-for-5 with three RBIs, while centerfielder Reid Love was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

Bolka, the Pirates’ No. 9 hitter who had just 24 at bats and one RBI on the season prior to the game, gave East Carolina a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning when he sent a line drive over the left field fence for a two-run home run. That ignited a five-run fifth that effectively put the game away, as Lowery’s bases-loaded single gave the Pirates a 6-1 cushion.

The lead proved to be plenty for Durazo, who came on after Pirate starting pitcher David Lucroy was unable to start the fifth inning due to cramping. Durazo retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced, allowing only an eighth-inning single, and struck out five to improve to 5-0 on the year.

The Pirates had struck first when Charlie Yorgen was hit by a pitch and took second on Reid Love’s base hit to left field. The runners moved up on a double steal and Yorgen came home on Eric Tyler’s grounder to second to give East Carolina a 1-0 lead.

Houston tied it in the bottom of the second inning when Corey Julks reached on a leadoff single to center, moved to second on a walk, was bunted to third and scored on Justin Montemayor’s sacrifice fly to left in foul territory.

East Carolina’s five-run fifth pushed the lead to 6-1, and the Pirates added three more in the top of the ninth as Lowery’s two-run single to left capped the scoring.

Allen was chosen as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after he went 9-for-18 with a double, triple and six runs scored. He joined Lowery, Love and pitcher Joe Ingle as the Pirates’ representatives on the all-tournament team.

Houston, which saw an eight-game winning streak snapped, fell to 42-18 on the year. Right fielder Kyle Survance went 2-for-4 and was the only Cougar player with multiple hits. Houston had shortstop Connor Wong, catcher Ian Rice, outfielder Corey Julks and pitcher Andrew Lantrip on the all-tournament team.

The other all-tournament selections were infielder Vinny Siena and designated hitter Joe DeRoche-Duffin of UConn and infielder Brandon Montgomery and outfielder Darien Tubbs of Memphis.