GREENVILLE — East Carolina kicked off conference play with a drama-filled 3-1 victory against the rival Houston Cougars on Friday night, thanks to a dominant performance on the mound by Evan Kruczynski.

After escaping trouble in the first inning, where he faced seven batters and allowed an early run, Kruczynski seized control of the game and never let go. Manager Cliff Godwin yanked the junior after just over seven innings, replacing him with the dependable sophomore Joe Ingle.

“I felt like I was making good pitches in the first inning to get ahead, but I wasn’t putting batters away,” said the junior. “I don’t know what inning it was when I struck out the side, but I really made an emphasis to put batters away. I think I did that late in the game and I learned from that first inning.”

Kruczynski’s dominant night was nearly overshadowed by a dramatic bottom half of the sixth inning. Designated hitter Bryce Harman, who blasted a home run in the third inning to get the Pirates on the board, was hit by a pitch from Houston starter Andrew Lantrip. It was the second time on the night.

The very next batter, junior Kirk Morgan, laced a single into right, scoring Eric Tyler. Morgan was caught in a run down trying to stretch the single into a double, and Harman bolted for home. The ball went home, and catcher Connor Wong turned to apply the tag to the charging Harman. Harman was out easily, and blasted into Wong attempting to jar the ball free. Wong held on, and home plate umpire David Buck immediately ejected Harman.

“I think I just came in too late,” Harman said. “They made a new rule this year. You’ve got to make a really good effort to slide in early and I don’t think I did that. I kind of let my teammates down a little bit there, but luckily we got the win and that’s all I really want to talk about.”

Ultimately, his absence did not haunt the Pirates on Friday night, as Ingle and Kruczynski needed no additional support to defend the 3-1 ECU lead. Still, Harman’s ejection makes him ineligible for Saturday’s rematch.

“(With the new rule) your butt has to be in contact with the ground if you slide feet first, and if you slide head first your chest has to be in contact with the ground,” Godwin said after the game. “We watched the video. Bryce was just playing hard. He was just trying to score when he can. It’s just unfortunate. Stuff happens. It was not malicious. Bryce wasn’t trying to hurt the guy he was just trying to slide hard.”

Houston managed to get runners on in both the eighth and ninth innings. With two outs and the bases loaded in the eighth, Ingle got shortstop Connor Hollis to fly out to deep center and successfully worked around a lead off hit-by-pitch in the ninth. He struck Derek Dickerson out swinging to close the game, clinching his sixth save of the season.

Senior Parker Lamm turned in a nice day at the plate and was responsible for ECU’s go-ahead run in fifth inning. With runners on the corners, Lamm dropped a flawless bunt down the first base line, scoring Harman, and beating out the throw for an infield single.

“Coach always harps on the two out RBIs,” said Lamm. “That’s what we always pride ourselves on. Just being tough and extending our at-bats.”

ECU and Houston will face off again tomorrow afternoon, at 4 p.m.