ECU vs. Tulane

East Carolina’s Jacob Starling fields a grounder to second and makes the force out throw to first against Tulane earlier this season. Starling led off the bottom of the first with a home run in Tuesday’s AAC tournament opener against South Florida. ECU lost, 12-11, in 11 innings.

The East Carolina baseball team looked to be headed toward a lopsided victory in the first round of the American Athletic Conference tournament on Tuesday against South Florida. Instead, the Pirates couldn’t maintain a late lead and lost, 12-11, in 11 innings.

The top seed and regular season AAC champion Pirates lost their safety net in the double-elimination tournament and forced into a must-win situation for each remaining game if they are to repeat as tournament champions. ECU played No. 5 Cincinnati at 3 p.m. in Wednesday’s elimination game.