GAMEDAY PREVIEW: Elon at No. 9 East Carolina
February 28, 2017 | Baseball
| Elon at No. 9 East Carolina (Game 8) | |
| Dates | Mar. 1, 2017 |
| Times | 4 p.m. (ET) |
| Location | Greenville, N.C.(Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium) |
| Tickets | Buy Tickets |
| Live Game Coverage | Radio: WNCT 1070 AM Watch Live TuneIn Radio: Online (within the app search WNCT – Beach Boogie & Blues) |
| Internet Options | Live Stats: Wednesday |
| Promotions | Click here |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | Elon | American Athletic Conference |
| Game Notes | East Carolina (PDF) | Elon (PDF) | The American (PDF) |
| 2017 Statistics | East Carolina | Elon | The American |
| Baseball Central | Roster | Fact Book (PDF) | The American | NCAA Baseball | College Scoreboard |
| Social Media | @ECUScoreboard (in-game updates) | The American #ECUPirates | #ECUBaseball | #AmericanRising |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – No. 9 East Carolina (4-3) will continue its home stand Wednesday afternoon playing host to in-state for Elon (4-3) at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. (ET).
MUSTACHE MARCH
• The entire team, including the coaching staff and support staff, will participate in Mustache March in order to raise awareness and money for the Jim "Catfish" Hunter chapter. Mustache March will create a fun and entertaining environment for Pirate fans throughout the month of March, which will also help towards ALS research. Please join our efforts of Striking Out ALS by donating to our event. All money raised throughout the season will go straight to the ALS Association, and more specifically the Jim "Catfish" Hunter chapter. During the 14th-Annual Keith LeClair Classic (Mar. 3-5) members of the local ALS Chapter will be on hand to receive donations. Also, please follow our status through various social media outlets (@ECUBaseball, and many more), as well as on the field. Go Pirates! ... For more information about Mustache March, please click on this link
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAME
• East Carolina and Elon will meet for the 81st time on Wednesday afternoon … The Pirates hold a 46-33-1 all-time advantage in the series, but the two clubs split extra-inning games last year winning on each teams home turf.
• The Pirates are ranked in the national polls for the third-straight week … Heading in to action this week, ECU is ranked No. 9 by Baseball America, No. 10 by USA Today/Coaches, No. 12 by Perfect Game and No. 18 by D1Baseball.
• The Pirates, who are in their 82nd season of intercollegiate baseball, won the 1961 NAIA National Championship, have claimed 24 conference titles (13 regular season/11 tournament), made 28 NCAA Regionals and advanced to four Super Regionals (2001, 2004, 2009 and 2016).
PIRATE QUICK HITS (prior to game)
• Last year Godwin guided the Pirates to their second consecutive NCAA Regional (No. 3 seed in Charlottesville) and a Super Regional appearance (Lubbock, Texas). ECU, who posted a 38-23-1 record and finished second in The American (15-8-1), rolled through regional play picking up wins against No. 20 Bryant (9-1), No. 10 Virginia (8-6) and William & Mary (8-4) en route to claiming the Charlottesville crown – its fourth regional title. The Pirates continued their magical run, defeating No. 5 national seed Texas Tech, 8-6, in the opener of the Super Regional and came 90 feet away from making their first appearance in the Men's College World Series in game two of the series.
• Chris Holba will make his second start of the season (third career) when he toes the rubber against Elon on Wednesday ... In his last outing he tossed six scoreless frames at Campbell allowing two hits, walking one and striking out four ... For his career, Holba has appeared in 27 games posting a 4-1 record with one save in 37.2 innings ... He has allowed 22 runs (all earned) on 38 hits with 24 strikeouts and 12 walks for a 5.26 ERA.
• Travis Watkins, who was hitless in the first two games of the season (0-for-7), broke out with a 3-for-5 performance in the Ole Miss finale driving in three runs ... He is currently riding a five-game hit streak coming into midweek action against Elon ... The five-time Johnny Bench Award Watch List candidate (2013-17) has thrown out 4 of 6 would-be base stealers on the season ... 2017 preseason All-AAC selection by the leagues coaches ... Two-time team captain and two-time Bench Award semifinalist (2015-16).
• Spencer Brickhouse opened his collegiate career picking up a pair of hits at Ole Miss (2/17) in the season opener which included his first career home run that came in the ninth inning ... He started all seven games at first base for the injured Bryce Harman batting .259 with two RBI and a team-best nine runs.
• Charlie Yorgen extended his consecutive start streak to 174 games (started in 2014) over the weekend ... Second on the team with a .364 average, while driving in five and scoring six runs ... Leads the team with five walks.
• Joe Ingle has tossed 5.1 scoreless frames on the season in two outings with eight strikeouts ... Picked up first win of the season (eighth career) against La Salle in the series opener ... Named a 2017 Second-Team Preseason All-American by NCBWA ... Unanimous preseason All-AAC selection ... Three-time Stopper-of-the-Year candidate (2015-17) ... Notched 20 career saves (4th all-time at ECU) ... Owns a 8-3 record in 66 games with a 2.51 ERA.
• Luke Bolka leads the team in home runs (2) and shares the lead in RBI (8) with T.J. Riles ... Bolka blasted his second long ball of the season hitting a grand slam in the second game of the La Salle series.
• Eric Tyler enters this weeks action having registered a hit in all seven games and leads the team with a .370 batting average.
• ECU's starting pitching sports a 2.83 ERA ... Allowed 12 runs (11 earned) with 37 Ks to 14 BBs in 35.0 innings ...The bullpen has surrendered 12 runs (11 earned) with 30 Ks to 8 BBs in 25.0 innings for a 3.96 ERA ... Allowed 3 of 11 inherited runners to score (27.3 percent).
• The Pirates return 19 letterwinners, including four Charlottesville All-Regional selections (Evan Kruczynski, Eric Tyler, Travis Watkins/Most Outstanding Player and Charlie Yorgen), 2016 Freshman All-American Dwanya Williams-Sutton and 2014 all-conference performer Bryce Harman. In all, the roster consists of 10 freshmen, eight sophomores, nine juniors and nine seniors.
• Also stepping onto the diamond are 14 newcomers, a group that consists of three infielders (Nick Barber, Spencer Brickhouse and Bryant Packard), one catcher (Zack Moore), four outfielders (Dusty Baker, Tyler Edwards, Andrew Henrickson and T.J. Riles) and six pitchers (Jake Agnos, Trey Benton, Hunter Britt, Hunter Hood, Ryan Ross, Tyler Smith). The 2016-17 recruiting class garnered a No. 23 national ranking by Baseball America.
• ECU has appeared in more NCAA Regionals (28) than any other team without advancing to a CWS.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Wednesday: TBA vs. RHP Chris Holba (1-0, 1.23 ERA)
GODWIN AT A GLANCE
• Cliff Godwin, who was named the 16th head coach in school history on June 25, 2014, was a four-year letterwinner for the Pirates from 1998-2001 … He has been a part of nine NCAA Regional and two College World Series teams at the Division I level as an assistant coach and head coach …During his two years at the helm of the program, Godwin has guided ECU to a pair of NCAA Regional berths, a Super Regional appearance, an American Athletic Conference Tournament title and a 82-48-1 (.630) overall record … Three players have earned All-America honors, five were named to the Charlottesville All-Regional Team, six took home all-conference honors (five first-teamers), seven were selected as American Player-of-the-Week, while a pair were drafted by Major League Baseball teams … Named 2015 AAC Coach-of-the-Year and was inducted into the George Whitfield Hall of Fame in January of 2016 … As a player, he helped former ECU skipper Keith LeClair's teams post a 169-76 four-year ledger, including 46-plus wins in each of his final three seasons (16-16 in '99, 46-18 in '00 and 47-13 in '01) … ECU won a pair of CAA Tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Regionals every season from 1999 to 2001 … The Pirates were the top seed in their regional all three years, including a No. 7 national seed in 2001 where they advanced to the Super Regional round before being eliminated by Tennessee.
