GREENVILLE —  For the second time in a week East Carolina’s Michael Wright faced off against Rutgers Rob Smorol, and as was the case last Saturday, Wright got the best of him and the Scarlet Knights as the Pirates won 6-3 on Saturday.

Wright, who upped his record to 4-0, pitched 5 2-3 innings giving up four hits and two earned runs while striking out two and walking three.

After relief pitcher Jake Harris let up a run in the ninth with one out, ECU closer Seth Simmons came out of the bullpen to record the final two outs of the inning and pick up his school-record 24th career save to help the Pirates up their record to 15-4 and win their three-game series with the Knights (7-10, Big East Conference).

East Carolina (15-4) struck first with a decisive four-run second inning that gave Wright and the ECU relievers enough room to hold off Rutgers.

John Wooten (3-for-4) led off the inning with a single, which was followed up by a Zach Wright double. That set the stage for Friday night’s hero Chris Gosik to put the Pirates on the board with a run-scoring single.

The momentum continued as freshman John Holt knocked an RBI single to right that scored Wright to make it 2-0. Gosik tried to cross home on the play but was gunned out at the plate by right fielder Michael Lang for the first out of the inning.

The Pirates went up 3-0 when leadoff hitter Trent Whitehead drilled a sac fly to center field, and took a 4-0 advantage when Mike Ussery, who reached on a fielder’s choice grounder to third, scored on a Jack Reinheimer single. Ussery would get caught in a run down trying to advance to third on the Reinheimer hit to record the final out of the inning.

“I thought those four runs where huge, I said ‘holy cow we got an offensive explosion,’” East Carolina coach Billy Godwin joked.

With the lead in hand, Wright continued to handle his business.

“I thought Michael settled in and gave us a quality start,” Godwin said.

After delivering a pinch-hit RBI single in his first career at-bat during ECU’s win over Buffalo on Wednesday, Holt came through once again for the Pirates as he went 1-for-3 with two RBIs in his first career start as a Pirate. Holt said when he came to the plate in the second inning his plan was to find a way to bring in a run.

“I came up in my first at-bat with bases loaded and no outs and I was just thinking I want a pitch up, something I can hit in the air for a sac fly,” Holt said.

The Clemmons native said he fought off rookie jitters by focusing on the task at hand.

“I figured I would just try to calm the nerves with an approach. I would go in the box every at-bat and think about an approach not as much as nerves or what I need to do here or there.”

Godwin said he decided to start right at DH to shake up the offense.

“He’s a young hitter that I think is going to be really good here,” Godwin said. “I was really impressed with him. He had a real solid preseason and kept swinging the bat. We were in a lull offensively and I put him in the other night (against Buffalo) and he got a pinch-hit single RBI and I just felt like it was his turn. He had a window of opportunity the other night and he made the most of it.”

After the four-run rally in the second, Smorol (1-3) settled down and held the Pirates scoreless up until the time he was pulled in the middle of the sixth. Smorol pitched 6 1-3 innings and gave up seven hits and four earned runs.

After Wright let up a bomb to Rutgers cleanup hitter Steve Nyistor in the top of the sixth to make it a 4-2 game, he was pulled three batters later for Brad Mincey. Mincey entered the game with two outs and a runner on first and was able to quiet the Scarlet Knights by striking out Dan Perrine to end the inning.

Mincey (4-0, .40), has now made an appearance in 11 of the Pirates 19 games, pitched 1 1-3 of an inning without letting up a run.

Jake Harris relieved Mincey in the eighth and entered the ninth with his team holding a 6-2 lead. Rutgers cut the deficit to 6-3 after a Michael Lang RBI single with one out. Lang’s hit led to the removal of Harris for Simmons. The third run also enabled Simmons to become eligible for a save, which he was awarded with after recording the final two outs.

The East Carolina closer picked up his fourth save of the year, and his 24th of his career, to pass Cory Scott on the school’s all-time list.

Simmons, who received the celebratory whip cream pie to the face after game, said he was happy to break the record.

“It’s an honor. A guy like Cory Scott was here and he did a lot of his (saves) in one year, and that just shows how consistent he was because he was asked to do a lot,” Simmons said. “Over the three years I have been a closer it’s been tough but it is a great honor to have and I am honored to have it. It’s just about being consistent and going out there and throwing strikes. At times it’s not going to be the greatest but you have to have a quick memory and I think I’ve had that.”

The Pirates will wrap up their series with Rutgers today at noon when Kevin Brandt (1-0, 1.00) will be making his second start of the season against the Knights Nathaniel Rowe (1-3, 4.78) today at noon.