By Staff
 ECU Sports Information
GREENVILLE — Trent Whitehead had four hits, including a home run, and drove in four runs to help lead the No. 20 East Carolina Pirates to a 9-4 victory over the Memphis Tigers in Thursday’s Conference USA clash.
Jared Avchen’s RBI single in the bottom of the eighth sparked a five-run inning for the Pirates at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
Tied at four in the eighth, ECU (39-15, 15-7) broke the game open thanks in part to six hits that produced five runs. Devin Harris led off the inning with a single through the left side to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. Dustin Harrington followed with his third base knock of the game. Avchen’s one-out single scored pinch runner Cam Freeman from second.
Whitehead, a former Washington Pam Pack standout, laced his fourth hit of the night to right scoring Harrington for a 6-4 advantage. Stephen Batts sent a 3-0 change-up to center clearing the bases to extend the lead to 8-4. The Pirates final run came off the bat of Kyle Roller, who singled home Batts.
Seth Simmons (3-1) notched his third win of the season in relief after working the final two frames where he gave up just one hit and struck out one. Starter Chris Heston fanned seven Tigers through six innings, while surrendering all four runs on seven hits.
 Duke Williams (1-1) suffered the loss for Memphis (21-30, 7-14). He gave up six runs on five hits with three punch outs. 
Memphis took a 2-0 lead in the first on three consecutive hits. The Tigers extended the lead to 3-0 in the second and 4-0 in the fifth. 
Home runs by Harrington and Whitehead highlighted a four-run seventh that knotted the game at four. Whitehead’s was a three-run shot. 
The Pirates and Tigers will play game two of the series at 6 p.m. today. ECU’s seven seniors will be honored prior to the game.