East Carolina University fans who were reeling from the football team’s blowout loss got some reprieve as the baseball team won its exhibition game against the University of Virginia, 5-2.
The first look at the 2019 Pirates ended well thanks to a couple of new faces alongside a familiar name.
Junior infielder Christian Smallwood belted his first home run in an ECU uniform, freshman infielder Thomas Francisco drove in a pair of runs and junior outfielder Bryant Packard collected three hits.
Smallwood is a junior-college transfer from the College of Central Florida. Francisco is a freshman from Abingdon High School in Abingdon, Virginia, and got the start at third base.