Jake Kuchmaner scattered four hits and struck out five in a complete-game victory to lead No. 4-seeded ECU past top-seeded Houston, snapping a nine-game series losing streak to the Cougars.
Kuchmaner allowed a leadoff home run to Tyler Bielamowicz, but kept the Cougars (37-23) off the scoreboard the rest of the way.
Every batter in the Pirates’ lineup reached base safely, as seven hitters had at least one run scored and one RBI. Connor Litton went 3-for-4 with three doubles, three runs scored and three RBIs, while Spencer Brickhouse went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs.