SAN ANTONIO — East Carolina University ace Ethan Norby tossed seven scoreless innings, allowed one hit and dished out 12 strikeouts as the Pirates shut out UTSA baseball on Friday at Roadrunner Field.
The Roadrunners (18-8, 2-2 AC) were never going to chase Norby out in the first three innings, but if the team could drive up his pitch count, they might have been able to do more damage on offense against some of the Pirates’ (16-10-1, 3-1 AC) relievers later on. The American Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year hasn’t been the worldbeater the Pirates thought he would be this season. Still, he had his best performance yet on Friday night against a Roadrunner offense that has lit up opposing teams all year. According to coach Pat Hallmark, the team didn’t compete as he’d hoped at the plate, and UTSA suffered its first shutout defeat since the Los Angeles Super Regional as a result.
“The plan was in place, and we did not execute it,” Hallmark explained. “Credit to Norby. I thought he did a good job with the strikes. Norby can be got to with the pitch count some. He throws so hard there are times when he’ll throw balls. That was the part of the game I was disappointed in.
“We didn’t compete, foul off pitches and get him to throw more pitches where maybe we can get him out of there in the fifth. That’s the way you get to Norby, just get his pitch count up. We didn’t compete good enough to do that.”
Hallmark pulled his starting pitcher, senior Christian Okerholm, just two batters into the game after Okerholm walked the first two batters. Senior pitcher Gunnar Brown checked in and allowed one run while stranding two. Brown allowed two more runs in the third before being replaced in the top of the fifth by freshman pitcher Jake Qualia. The Lubbock, Texas, native lasted the longest he has all season (5.0 IP) and shut down the Pirates’ offense the rest of the way.
“He threw strikes,” Hallmark said of Qualia. “Jake tends to throw strikes, and he did a good job. He missed low with the sinker, which is what we’ve been asking him to do for a long time. When he throws balls, throw low and he did that.”
Qualia finished the game with three hits allowed and one strikeout.
“I just tried to control what I can control,” Qualia said of his mentality on the mound. “We have good hitters. They’ll bounce back at some point, whether it’s today or tomorrow. I can only control what I do on the mound, and trust that [the offense] will do their job.”
Senior catcher Andrew Stucky and senior outfielder Drew Detlefsen had the Roadrunners’ only hits on Friday.
Game two of UTSA v. East Carolina is set for 2 p.m. Saturday at Roadrunner Field.
