Gameday: No. 8 ECU Takes On No. 4 USF
May 24, 2017 | Baseball
| No. 4 USF vs. 8 East Carolina (Game 58) | |
| Date | May 25, 2017 |
| Time | 7:03 p.m. (ET) |
| Location | Clearwater, Fla. (Spectrum Field) |
| Tickets | Buy Tickets |
| Live Game Coverage | Radio: WNCT 1070 AM American Digital Network (Thursday) TuneIn Radio: Online (Pirate IMG Sports Network) |
| Internet Options | Live Stats: All Week |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | USF |
| Game Notes | East Carolina (PDF) | USF (PDF) | The American (PDF) |
| 2017 Statistics | East Carolina | USF | 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 |
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Eighth seed East Carolina (30-27) will face No. 4 seed USF (41-15) on Thursday, May 25 in the 2017 American Athletic Baseball Championships, which is being held at Spectrum Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:03 p.m. (ET) and will be streamed online through the American Digital Network.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAME
• East Carolina and USF will meet for the fourth time this season on the diamond in a winner's bracket game of the AAC Baseball Championships … The Bulls swept the weekend series in Tampa pushing their win streak in the series to six-straight games, but the Pirates own a 15-11 all-time record in the series dating back to 1990.
• 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)
• Trey Benton is set to throw game two in The American Championships ... Has posted a 3-4 record (0-4 in AAC) with a 4.26 ERA in 13 starts ... He has fanned 70 batters (9th in AAC) while walking 18 in 67.2 innings pitched ... Struck out a career-high 10 batters against La Salle and Towson ... Has five quality starts.
• Evan Kruczynski picked up his fourth win of the season (third quality start) tossing six innings against No. 1 seed and 24th-ranked UCF where he allowed two runs (one earned) on eight hits with three strikeouts during first round action of the AAC Baseball Championships … The lefty earned AAC Pitcher-of-the-Week honors (4/24) after tossing 8 shutout innings at Cincinnati where he allowed one hit and retired 22-straight in a 6-0 win ... Has tallied 28 career quality starts in 45 career starts ... Owns an 20-7 career record with a 2.97 ERA.
• Jake Agnos has appeared in 15 (9 starts) during his freshman season ... Picked up first win in AAC play against Tulane striking out 10 in a career-high 7.1 innings ... Notched first collegiate win against Towson ... Fanned a career-best 11 in five frames vs. WCU (3/3) - all coming in relief.
• Charlie Yorgen was a unanimous First-Team All-AAC selection during senior season ... Saw his 190-game starting streak snapped vs. Towson (March 25) which started in 2014 ... Has hit six home runs on the season (10 career) - with his last hit (home run) at Clark-LeClair coming in final at-bat (3-run shot) ... Belted three-run homer off of UCF's Trent Thompson in the third inning sparking the Pirates to a 14-3 win (eighth career game winning RBI) … Hit first career grand slam against UCF (4/13) ... His homer vs. the 49ers was a 3-run shot in the 10th inning giving ECU a 10-7 walk-off win against Charlotte in game one of the doubleheader (3/11) ... Earned American Hitter-of-the-Week and College Sports Madness Player-of-the-Week honors on April 24 ... Reached base six times at UNCW (4/18) - 5 hits, 1 walk.
• Spencer Brickhouse enters the game batting .319 ... Team co-leader in HRs (9) ... Hit multiple home runs in two game (CofC, Memphis) ... Had three home runs in two game set at CofC including his first multi-HR game on March 8 (consecutive at-bats) ... Belted first home run in first collegiate game at Ole Miss (2/17) ... Tallied three game-winning RBI (ASU, CofC, CIN).
• Travis Watkins earned First-Team All-AAC honors as a senior after batting .349 to lead the club ... Also team leader in hits (82), RBI (45), runs (46) and co-leader in home runs (9) ... Three of nine homers have been grand slams (five of 19 career HRs were grand slams) ... Hit two home runs vs. Campbell on Senior Night ... The five-time Johnny Bench Award Watch List candidate (2013-17) has thrown out 11 of 31 runners on the season ... Three-time team captain and three-time Bench Award semifinalist (2015-17).
• Eric Tyler was named First-Team All-AAC as a senior after batting .341 to ranking second on the team with Yorgen ... His 79 hits are three behind Watkins ... Had 39-game on-base streak snapped at UConn (5/18) ... Recorded at least one hit in 46 of 57 games (multiple 26 times) ... Had career-best 12-game hit streak snapped against UCONN (Mar. 31) ... Named AAC Hitter-of-the-Week on May 1.
• Luke Bolka is third on the team with eight home runs and is fourth with 30 RBI ... Hit home runs in consecutive games (at Houston/vs. UNCW) ... Tallied a team-best six game-winning RBI ... Has 13 career home runs.
• Dwanya Williams-Sutton has hit seven home runs and is batting .291 in 29 games ... Hit two home runs vs. Liberty ... Added two home runs in USF series (both two-run shots, which came in consecutive games) ... For his career he is batting .331 with 12 home runs, 42 RBI and 31 XBHs.
• Prior to tournament - ECU's starting pitching sports a 4.09 ERA ... Allowed 140 runs (121 earned) with 223 Ks to 81 BBs in 266.1 innings while holding opposing hitters to a .255 clip ...The bullpen has surrendered 149 runs (124 earned) with 211 Ks to 110 BBs in 234.0 innings for a 4.77 ERA and opposing hitters are batting .264 ... Allowed 59 of 136 inherited runners to score (43.4 percent).
PROBABLE STARTERS
Thursday: LHP Shane McClanahan (4-2, 3.45 ERA) vs. RHP Trey Benton (3-4, 4.26 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 108-72-1 (.600) 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.
