Diamond Pirates Host Memphis During Pig-Out Weekend
April 11, 2003 | Baseball
at Harrington Field (Greenville, N.C.)
Friday, April 11, 6 p.m. [PSN]
Davey Penny (3-2, 1.90) vs. Stephen Gostowski (1-2, 4.41)
Saturday, April 12, 7 p.m.
TBA vs. Brandon Rowan* (1-1, 2.73)
Sunday, April 13, 12:30 p.m.
TBA vs. Jarrett Grube (1-3, 4.46)
(*) Left-hander
PSN = Pirate Sports Network radio broadcast
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- East Carolina returns to action for the first time in nearly a week as it hosts Conference USA foe Memphis in a three-game series beginning Friday night. The Pirates haven't played since defeating South Florida this past Sunday, 5-2, in Tampa. ECU has won all four of its Conference USA series this year, but have yet to sweep a league opponent. In fact, since joining the conference last season, the Pirates have recorded just two sweeps in 14 league series (UAB and Memphis). The Tigers have been playing much better baseball lately, winning three of their last five games, which includes a pair of victories over TCU. The Pirates are in sole possession of third place in the conference standings and are just one game out of first place.
On The Air
Friday's game of this weekend's three-game series against Memphis will be available throughout eastern North Carolina on the newly expanded Pirate Sports Network. Carrying over 30 games on the network this year are WGHB (1250 AM) in Farmville/Greenville, WRUP (97.9 FM) in New Bern/Morehead City, and WSTK (910 AM) in Jacksonville. Dan Eberhard will call the play-by-play. All games on the Pirate Sports Network can be heard live on the internet through ECUpirates.com, the official web site of ECU athletics.
On The World Wide Web
Live scoring and statistical play-by-play will be available for all three of this weekend's games on the internet through the official web site of the Pirates, ECUpirates.com. The statistical feed, which updates live after each batter, is made possible through a direct connection from the official statistician's scorebook computer and will be available for a majority of ECU's home and road games in 2003.
In The Rankings
East Carolina reappeared in the national rankings this week for the first time since mid-February. The Pirates are ranked 32nd in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll. ECU's highest ranking of the year was 30th during the preseason by the NCBWA.
Scouting Memphis
Memphis enters this weekend's Conference USA series against East Carolina with an overall record of 11-21 and 3-9 in league play. The Tigers split their midweek series against Middle Tennessee winning Tuesday, 6-2, in Murfreesboro. UM also won its first C-USA series of the year this past weekend, taking two of three from TCU. Kurt Welch is the Tigers' top hitter with a .300 batting average, while also leading the team in RBIs with 26. Josh Payne is Memphis' main long ball threat with six home runs this season. Memphis pitchers have combined for a 6.01 team earned run average this season.
One Game Back
East Carolina enters this weekend's three-game Conference USA series against Memphis one-game out of first place in the standings. The Pirates have a conference mark of 8-4 and are alone in third place. Houston and Southern Miss sit atop the league standings with each squad holding a 9-3 C-USA record. ECU took two out of three from Houston and host Southern Miss at Harrington Field beginning May 2.
From The Training Room
ECU sophomore Matt Bishop is out for the remainder of the season and will undergo "Tommy John" surgery to repair his elbow. Junior outfielder Ryan Jones will continue to sit out after sustaining a back injury during the Cincinnati series. Jones is expected to be out at least another three weeks.
South Florida In Review
Jamie Paige scored the winning run on double-play ball by Mike Harrington in the top of the 15th inning to give ECU a 5-4 victory in game one of its Conference USA series against USF. Glenn Tucker allowed just three hits in 7.1 innings of relief and Greg Bunn worked a hitless 1.1 innings to earn the win. Game two was far less dramatic as USF claimed an 11-4 win. The Bulls touched up ECU starter Neal Sears for nine runs on 12 hits in 4.2 innings pitched. Ben Sanderson collected his first multi-hit game of the season with three base knocks. Jamie Paige, Ryan Norwood and Adam Witter had two hits each. Norwood and Mark Minicozzi combined for six hits in game three to lift ECU to a 5-2 win. Senior Will Brinson scattered seven hits over 6.2 innings with a three strikeouts to pick up his second victory of the season.
15-Inning Marathon
East Carolina's 15-inning marathon against South Florida on April 4 tied the school record for the longest game in school history. The only other Pirate game to go 15 innings came in 1979 against North Carolina -- also an ECU win.
Weekend Wins
The Pirates have won each of their first four Conference USA series, two games to one. In two of the four series, the Pirates have won game one and three, while dropping game two. In its series against Charlotte, the Niners took the opener before ECU won the final two. The Pirates nearly swept Cincinnati, claiming victory in the first two games, but lost game three, 4-3.
Penny Named C-USA Pitcher of the Week
Senior right-hander Davey Penny was named Conference USA Pitcher of the Week for the week ending March 30. Penny tossed his first complete game since his sophomore season and did not allow an earned run in the series opener against Cincinnati, to extend his streak of consecutive innings without giving up an earned run to 30. Penny struck out seven batters and walked just two during his nine-inning performance. He has not allowed an earned run since Feb. 21 against UCF, a span of four consecutive starts. Penny is the first Pirate to win the award this season. Former Pirate Sam Narron earned the weekly award once last season, while sophomore Darryl Lawhorn and former ECU infielder Bryant Ward were each named C-USA Player of the Week once a year ago.
Best Pitching Staff In C-USA
East Carolina has the lowest team earned run average (ERA) of any team in Conference USA at 3.04. UAB ranks second with a 3.44 ERA, followed by Houston with a 3.48 ERA. Glenn Tucker (1.71) and Davey Penny (1.90) rank second and fourth in the league in earned run average.
Four Runs, One Swing
The Pirates have hit three grand slam home runs this season. Ryan Norwood hit ECU's first grand slam of the year on March 18 against NC A&T. Mark Minicozzi hit it's second four days later against Charlotte on March 23. Luke Cherry hit the Pirates' latest grand slam Wednesday night against Duke. Each grand slam was the first for all three players.
Sears Sets Appearances Record
Neal Sears made his 81st career appearance by throwing the first pitch of the Charlotte series, thus setting a new ECU career record for appearances. During his career Sears had made 76 relief appearances and seven starts. He also holds the school record for career relief appearances. His record current stands at 83 career appearances.
"Tuck" It In
Senior Glenn Tucker made his 75th career appearance on Friday against South Florida and moved into third place on school's all-time list. He also ranks second on ECU's career relief appearances list with 72, four behind fellow senior Neal Sears. Tucker currently has the lowest ERA on the team (1.71) and has a strikeout to walk ratio of nearly 7:1 (46 strikeouts, 7 base on balls).
Bunn Moves Into Second
Sophomore relief pitcher Greg Bunn moved into second place on the school's career saves list this past Sunday. He tossed 2.1 scoreless innings against USF to bring his season total to five and his career total to 13, which ranks as second best behind Cory Scott's 23 career saves.
No Freebies
On the season, Pirate pitchers have struck out 277 batters and walked just 98 for a nearly 3:1 ratio. The Pirates are issuing an average of 2.9 walks per nine innings. East Carolina is averaging 8.1 strikeouts per nine innings.
Power Surge
After going homerless in four consecutive games in the middle of March, the Pirates have hit a home run in 12 of the past 14 games, including five game with multiple home runs. East Carolina hit three big flies in game two of the Cincinnati series, while hitting two in both the first and third game of the series. The Pirates also took two out of the yard in their last home game against Duke. As a team, ECU has hit 34 home runs this season with Darryl Lawhorn (10) and Ryan Norwood (8) combining for almost half of those.
Next Big Fly Will Be No. 30
Darryl Lawhorn's next home run will be the 30th of his career and make him just the ninth player in school history to reach that mark. Lawhorn is on pace to become the second fastest player in school history to 30 home runs. He has hit 29 home runs in 92 career games. ECU Hall of Fame member Winfred Johnson hit 29 home runs during the first 85 games of his career and connected on his 30th a few games later.
Magic Number is 10
East Carolina is 13-1-1 this season when collecting 10 or more hits in a game. The only time that the Pirates lost when pounding out 10 hits was this past Saturday against South Florida. ECU tied its season-high for hits in a game with 15, but could only push across four runs in a seven-run loss.
Bullpen Wins
ECU relief pitchers have claimed 11 of the Pirates' 21 victories this season, including five of the last 10. Closer Greg Bunn is 3-1 with five saves in 13 appearances, while middle relief pitcher Matt Bishop has a 3-0 record in seven appearances. Senior right-hander Glenn Tucker has picked up two victories out of the pen, while Will Brinson, Ashley Capps and Brian McCullen have earned one win each in relief.
Freshmen Making Impact
Three freshman have seen considerable playing time this season and have made an impact in the Pirate lineup. Redshirt freshman Mark Minicozzi is tied for third on the team in home runs (5), while ranking third in RBI (21) and runs scored (22). True freshman catcher Jake Smith has also hit five home runs this season and driven in 10 runs. Smith is tied with Lawhorn for the team lead in walks with 12. Mike DeJesus has become the everyday starter at second base. DeJesus has started 19 games at second base this season and his hitting .268 with four double and a triple.
