No. 5 ECU Hosts N.C. State in Kinston
May 12, 2004 | Baseball
ABOUT THE PIRATES
No. 5 East Carolina hosts N.C. State Wednesday at Grainger Stadium in Kinston in the second meeting of the season between the teams. The Pirates earned their sixth shutout of the season Tuesday, blanking UNC Wilmington, 3-0. Sophomore left-hander Scott Andrews made his first career start and scattered six hits over 6 2/3 scoreless innings before Matt Bishop earned his third save of the season. Jamie Paige finished 3-for-3 in the win. The Pirates have reached the top 8 in all four national collegiate baseball polls this week including the No. 5 ranking which is the highest ranking in school history. East Carolina swept its sixth straight Conference USA series last weekend defeating Saint Louis, 15-5, 7-1 and 16-5. The Pirates extended their C-USA win-streak to 20 games, setting a new Conference USA record for consecutive conference wins. ECU outscored Saint Louis in three games, 38-11 and pounded out 54 hits in the series as ECU clinched a spot in the 2004 C-USA Baseball Tournament in Houston, Texas. The Pirates have won 23 of their last 24 games. ECU broke the single-season school record for home runs when Ryan Norwood's 13th homer of the season in the SLU series finale gave the 2004 team, 86 homers thus far in the season surpassing the 2001 squad's mark of 85 home runs. Senior outfielder Jamie Paige has been hot lately. Paige is hitting .667 (16-for-24) in his last five games including 11 RBI and three doubles. Senior Ryan Jones tied the single-season school record in doubles with his 22nd double against UNCW Tuesday. Junior first baseman Ryan Norwood hit .462 (7-for-15) last week with three doubles and two home runs and finished 1-for-4 with his 21st double of the season Tuesday.
ABOUT THE WOLFPACK
N.C. State knocked off Campbell, 3-1, Tuesday and looks to even up the season series with the Pirates Wednesday. Four Wolfpack pitchers combined to strike out nine and held the Camels to one earned run on eight hits. David Hicks led N.C. State going 3-for-4 with one RBI accounting for three of the five hits for N.C. State. Hicks hits .335 with 15 doubles, 7 home runs and 39 RBI. Matt Camp leads the team hitting .349 with a team-high 66 hits. As a team, N.C. State hits .274, but its pitching staff is the 10th best in the nation compiling a 3.17 team ERA and 408 strikeouts in 417.2 innings.
IN THE POLLS
East Carolina cracked the top 8 in all four national collegiate polls. The Pirates are ranked No. 5 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association and Collegiate Baseball, No. 6 by Baseball America. The Pirates are 8th by Sports Weekly and the Coaches Poll. ECU is also ranked 2nd among southeastern schools by SEBaseball.com. ECU stands at 16th in the College RPI index released by boydsworld.com
ECU - N.C. STATE SERIES
ECU and N.C. State have met 86 times on the diamond with the Wolfpack leading the all-time series with the Pirates, 53-33. East Carolina won the first meeting of the season in Raleigh, 6-3, and the Pirates have won four of the last six games.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE WOLFPACK
Ryan Jones doubled in three runs in the top of the sixth and Carter Harrell struck out five over the last four innings to earn his first save of the season as No. 9 East Carolina knocked off N.C. State, 6-3, at Doak Field. The Pirates extended their winning streak to 13 games and snapped a two-game losing streak to the Wolfpack. P.J. Connelly (2-0) picked up the win after holding the Wolfpack scoreless in 2/3 of an inning. Harrell entered the game in the bottom of the sixth and held N.C. State to two hits the rest of the way. Darryl Lawhorn led the Pirates going 3-for-5 with a run scored. Jones finished 1-for-2 with three RBI and walked three times. Trevor Lawhorn, John Poppert and Billy Richardson each added two hits.
UP NEXT
East Carolina hosts TCU at Grainger Stadium in Kinston, N.C. this weekend. The Pirates can clinch the regular C-USA title this weekend. Game times are 4 p.m., 2 p.m., 12 p.m. Fri.-Sun.
