By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Professional baseball scouts may need to re-write their evaluations on East Carolina lefthander Ethan Norby after he dominated one of the best offenses in the nation Thursday night in a 3-0 victory over UTSA at Roadrunner Field.
Working seven brilliant innings, he allowed only one hit — a single — walked three and struck out 12 to help pin the first shutout loss of the season on the home team.
“The heater was really working, and then (I was) working everything else off that,” Norby said. “It’s a good lineup, but, I just (wanted to) keep attacking with the fastball. I got good stuff. So, it was just trusting it.”
Norby threw 108 pitches, including 67 for strikes, as East Carolina (16-10-1, 3-1) won the first of a three-game series in the early stages of the race in the American Conference.
UTSA (18-8, 2-2) has a chance to get even Saturday when the teams play again at 2 p.m. Game 3 is set for Sunday at 1 p.m.
A season-best crowd of 1,205 attended the opener and watched as Norby, the 70th best prospect for the 2026 MLB draft, according to mlb.com, toyed with an offense that had been averaging nearly 10 runs per game.
“I think he had all his pitches and obviously his command was really good,” East Carolina coach Cliff Godwin said. “He’s been fighting himself some, early on this season, just with his command.
“He’s been walking some guys. Hitting some guys. I thought he was ahead of hitters, and obviously this is a pitcher’s night with the wind blowing the way it is.
“But he was really good.”
Norby threw 108 pitches, including 67 for strikes, which made it extremely tough with a north wind blowing hard into the hitters’ faces.
On top of that, the wind seemed to pick up a notch between the third and the fourth inning.
“It was crazy,” Godwin said. “You’d see balls going up. I mean, I thought we hit some balls hard. They just didn’t go anywhere.”
For the Pirates, who have made 34 NCAA tournaments in their Division I history, it was a big win for them to beat a Pat Hallmark-coached team in its own back yard.
“Look, you got to come on the road and win games,” Godwin said. “Obviously this isn’t an easy place to win. UTSA plays well at home. Coach Hallmark is one of the best baseball coaches in the country.
“I’m not saying that just because we’re playing them. For what they did last year, going to Texas and winning a regional, and no offense, kind of making it look easy.
“He always has his guys prepared. They’re tough. They’re fundamentally sound. You know, they’re guy gave us a couple of walks in the first inning, which helped us.
“On a night like tonight, you probably want to limit the freebies.”
Records
East Carolina 16-10-1, 3-1
UTSA 18-8, 2-2
Coming up
East Carolina at UTSA, Saturday, 2 p.m.
East Carolina at UTSA, Sunday, 1 p.m.