ECU Opens NCAA Atlanta Regional Against South Carolina
May 28, 2003 | Baseball
Friday, May 30 vs. South Carolina, 3 p.m. ET
RHP Will Brinson (3-3, 4.48) vs. TBA
Saturday, May 31 vs. Georgia Tech/Stetson, TBA
TBA vs. TBA
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- East Carolina's quest for a trip to Omaha in 2003 got new life on Monday as the Pirates were awarded an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
East Carolina (33-25-1) will be the No. 3 seed in the Atlanta Regional, hosted by Georgia Tech (44-16). The Pirates will face No. 2 seed South Carolina (39-20) on Friday at 3 p.m. ET. The regional's No. 4 seed is Stetson (39-22), which will face the host Yellow Jackets on Friday night at 7 p.m. The losers of Friday's games will meet in an elimination game Saturday at 11 a.m., while the winners will square off at 3 p.m.
The Pirates are participating in their 19th NCAA Tournament and fifth consecutive. The number three seed is lowest seed ECU has received since the tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1999. East Carolina was a No. 1 seed in 1999, 2000, 2001 and a No. 2 seed last season.
Friday's game between East Carolina and South Carolina will be the first meeting between the two schools since 2000. ECU has no previous meetings with either Georgia Tech or Stetson.
On The Air
All of East Carolina's postseason games 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.
In The Polls
Georgia Tech is ranked 10th in this week's Collegiate Baseball poll, while South Carolina is ranked 15th in the same poll. The Yellow Jackets are No. 7 in the USA Today Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches poll, while the Gamecocks come in at No. 24 in the poll. Tech is also ranked seventh by Baseball America, while South Carolina is rated 21st by the same publication. East Carolina and Stetson are not ranked.
The Series With South Carolina
South Carolina leads the all-time series with the Pirates, 10-3 and hold a 3-0 advantage over ECU in the NCAA Tournament. The teams last met during the postseason in 1993 in Atlanta. The Gamecocks defeated the Pirates, 6-5, in the opening round. ECU also fell victim to South Carolina in the 1974 and 1977 NCAA playoffs.
ECU's NCAA Tournament History
This will be East Carolina's 19th trip to an NCAA Regional dating back to the 1964 season. The Pirates' recorded their first ever regional victory that season with a win over West Virginia, but lost to North Carolina twice. ECU made three regional appearances in the 1960s, three in the 1970s, five in the 1980s, four in the 1990s and four in the 21st century. East Carolina has never been to the College World Series, but came within an eyelash in 2001; falling to Tennessee in the Super Regional.
Next Win Will Be No. 100 For Mazey
A win by East Carolina in the NCAA Atlanta Regional will give head coach Randy Mazey his 100th career victory. Mazey is in his first season with the Pirates and his fourth overall season as a head coach. He spent three seasons as the head coach at Charleston Southern from 1994-96 and guided the Buccaneers to their first-ever NCAA Regional in 1996.
Tourangeau and Lawhorn Voted To C-USA Tournament Team
East Carolina senior Jason Tourangeau and sophomore Darryl Lawhorn were named to the 2003 Conference USA All-Tournament team following the championship game. Tourangeau threw the first complete-game, one-hit shutout in the history of the Conference USA Tournament as the Pirates posted a 5-0 win over Houston on Friday. Lawhorn, who was named MVP of the 2002 Conference USA Tournament, collected seven hits in 14 at bats during the Pirates' four-game run through the tournament. While he drove in just one run, he scored a pair of runs and drew a trio of base on balls. Lawhorn hit safely in all four games, including a three-hit performance in ECU's win over Charlotte.
Mt. Airy Senior Blanks Houston
Jason Tourangeau, a senior from Mt. Airy, Md., threw the first complete-game, one-hit shutout in the history of the Conference USA Tournament as the Pirates posted a 5-0 win over Houston on Friday. Making just his second start of the year, Tourangeau entered the game with just 14 2/3 innings on the mound, allowed just five base runners and never faced more than four batters in any inning. He gave up four walks and had one strikeout but was assisted by a stingy Pirate defense that did not commit an error. He became just the fifth player in eight year history of Conference USA to throw a one-hitter.
Lawhorn Named Second Team All-Conference USA
ECU sophomore Darryl Lawhorn was named All-Conference USA for a second consecutive season, earning second team all-conference honors. Lawhorn ended the regular season leading the team in batting average, runs scored, and was tied for the team lead in home runs. As a freshman in 2002, Lawhorn earned first team all-conference honors and was named Conference USA Freshman of the Year.
Two Rookies Earn All-Conference USA Freshmen Team Honors
Freshmen Mark Minicozzi and Jake Smith were each named to the 2003 Conference USA All-Freshman team. Smith lead all conference freshmen in home runs with 10, while Minicozzi was second among the league's freshmen in home runs (7) and RBI (33). Smith ranks third on the team in both hitting (.301) and home runs (10). Smith's 10 home runs are the fifth most by any East Carolina freshman. Minicozzi ranks third on the team in RBI (33) and fourth in home runs (7).
Pirates Finish Fifth In Conference USA
East Carolina was picked to finish fifth in the Conference USA standings this season and that is exactly where they finished with a 17-13 league record. The Pirates improved one place in the league standings from a year ago. During its inaugural run through the conference, ECU went 16-13-1 to finish in sixth place. The Pirates went on to sweep through the 2002 Conference USA Tournament to claim its first C-USA title in any sport.
ECU Halts Tulane's Home Winning Streak
Tulane's 25 home game winning streak, including 23 straight at Turchin Stadium, was halted when East Carolina took down the Green Wave, 8-7, in the opening game of a three-game Conference USA series during the final weekend of the regular season. The Pirates scored a pair of runs in the ninth to hand Tulane just its second home loss of the season.
Norwood Named C-USA Co-Player of the Week
East Carolina sophomore Ryan Norwood was named Conference USA Co-Player of the Week along with Jared Lundeen of TCU for the week of May 11. Norwood was the only position player to earn the weekly honor for the Pirates this season. Against UAB, Norwood went 7-for-14 with three home runs and nine RBI. He hit two home runs in the series opener on Friday night, including a game-winning three-run blast in the bottom of the eighth. In the series finale on Sunday, Norwood hit another three-run home run that gave the Pirates a 7-6 lead in fourth after trailing 6-1 in the second. He drove in a career-high five runs during the game.
Penny Dismissed From Team
Senior pitcher Davey Penny was dismissed from the East Carolina University baseball team on May 12, due to conduct detrimental to the team. Penny, who was normally the Pirates' starting Friday night pitcher in Conference USA weekend series, was 4-3 this season with a 2.82 ERA. His most recent outing came Friday night against UAB when he yielded four runs in four innings of work.
ECU Takes Series From Southern Miss
The Pirates won two of three games from Conference USA champion Southern Miss at Harrington Field in Greenville. ECU was the only team this season to win a series against the Golden Eagles. After dropping game one, ECU responded with three runs in the ninth inning of game two to claim a 7-6 victory and then took game three handily on Sunday, 7-3.
Weekend Wins
East Carolina won eight of 10 Conference USA series this year, winning each of those eight series two games to one. In four of the six series, the Pirates have won game one and three, while dropping game two. In its series against Southern Miss, Charlotte and Louisville, the opponents 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. Its lone conference series losses were a three-game sweep by TCU and 2-1 series defeat on the road at Tulane.
One Run Has Been The Story
ECU has played 22 one runs games during the 2003 season, but has won only nine of those game with 13 losses. Three of its final seven games of the season were decided by one run with ECU picking up just one win. The Pirates lost four games to nationally-ranked opponents NC State (2), North Carolina and Tulane by a single run. ECU was 7-5 in Conference USA games decided by one run.
Pitching Has Been Strong
East Carolina has a team ERA of 4.10, which ranks as the third best in the conference behind Houston Southern Miss (3.62) and Tulane (3.94). Pirate hurlers have held opposing hitters to a .269 average, which ranks as the fourth lowest in the league. Throughout the season, ECU has made opposing hitters earn their way on base, walking just 189 in 540.1 innings pitched, while striking out 460. Houston is the only Conference USA team to have fanned more batters than the Pirates.
Hurlers Set School Record For Ks
East Carolina pitchers have struck out a school record 460 batters this season, eclipsing the former record of 454 set by the 2002 team. Four ECU pitchers have 65 or more strikeouts this season, led by senior Glenn Tucker's 80 strikeouts. Will Brinson has fanned 71 batters this season, Neal Sears has rung up 67 and Greg Bunn has punched out 65 opposing hitters.
Home Vs. Away
The Pirates completed a very successful 2003 home campaign on Sunday and finished the season with a record of 21-10 (.667) at Harrington Field. However, the road hasn't been as kind to ECU. As a team, the Pirates are 10-13-1 on the road this season and hitting just .260 as a team away from "The Jungle."
Pirates Use The Long Ball
While the Pirates' total number of home runs is down from the past couple of seasons, the ball has still been flying out of the yard in 2003. ECU ranks third in the conference, along with Tulane, behind only Southern Miss and TCU. The Pirates have hit 60 home runs this year, which ties the 1986 squad for eighth most home runs in a single year. ECU has out-homered opponents 60-49.
Lawhorn Joins Club
Sophomore Darryl Lawhorn joined a very exclusive club in the history of Pirate baseball against Louisville. His eighth inning grand slam was the 30th home run of his career, making him just the ninth player in school history to achieve that mark. With two years of eligibility remaining, it is conceivable that Lawhorn could become just the third player at ECU to top 40 home runs during his career (Winfred Johnson, 70; John Williamson, 47). Lawhorn currently stands alone in seventh place on the school's all-time home run list with 32.
Deep Calling Deep
Three East Carolina players have recorded multi-home run games in 2003. Ryan Norwood and Jake Smith have done it twice each, while Ryan Jones achieved the feat once. Smith was the first to accomplish the feat, homering twice against UCF on Feb. 22. He repeated his performance later in the year at home against North Carolina. Both of Ryan Norwood's multi-home run games came at Harrington Field. The first was against Delaware in March and the other was in the series opener against UAB. Jones hit a pair of home runs in the series finale on the road at Louisville.
Penny & Tucker Named C-USA Pitchers 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. Fellow senior right-handed pitcher Glenn Tucker picked up the honor after holding league leading Southern Miss to zero runs and just three hits during the final eight innings of the series final. Tucker also struck out a career-high seven batters.
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.
