No. 5 ECU Looks to Extend Streak Against TCU
May 13, 2004 | Baseball
ABOUT THE PIRATES
No. 5 East Carolina plays its final home games of the regular season this weekend when the Pirates host TCU at Grainger Stadium in Kinston. ECU needs three more wins over the next two Conference USA weekends to clinch its first C-USA regular season title. The Pirates won a pair of in-state rivalry games during the mid-week. Scott Andrews tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings and Matt Bishop picked up a save to help ECU to its sixth shutout of the season in a 3-0 win at UNC Wilmington Tuesday. Kevin Rhodes tossed 3 2/3 innings and ECUturned five double plays as the Pirates defeated NC State, 7-2, Wednesday night at Grainger Stadium in front of a season-high 3,510 fans. Darryl Lawhorn and Jamie each added a pair of hits. ECU has won 24 of its last 25 games. 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 has clinched a spot in the 2004 C-USA Baseball Tournament in Houston, Texas. Senior outfielder Jamie Paige has been hot lately. Paige is hitting .667 (18-for-27) in his last six games including 12 RBI and three doubles. Senior Ryan Jones and junior Ryan Norwood tied the single-season school record in doubles with their 22nd doubles of the season this week.
ABOUT THE HORNED FROGS
TCU looks to snap a three-game losing streak when the Horned Frogs travel to play the Pirates. TCU dropped two games to UAB, 20-10 and 10-2 last weekend and lost a mid-week contest to Dallas Baptist, 5-3. TCU is currently tied for fourth place in the conference standings. Chad Huffman is the top hitter sporting a .401 batting clip with a team-high 75 hits, 15 doubles and 35 RBI. Freshman third baseman Shelby Ford hits .324 with 11 doubles and 15 home runs. As a team, TCU hits .301. TCU's pitching staff is anchored by defending C-USA Pitcher of the Year, Clayton Jerome (7-3, 3.67 ERA). LHP Eugene Espinelli has posted 6-3 record with 4.46 ERA while the TCU pitching staff has compiled a 5.32 ERA.
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 - TCU SERIES
ECU and TCU have met seven times on the diamond with the Horned Frogs leading the all-time series with the Pirates, 6-1. TCU swept last season's series in Fort Worth and swept the series in 2002 in Greenville. ECU's lone win in the series came during the 2002 C-USA Tournament in Kinston, 5-1.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE HORNED FROGS
TCU scored three runs in the top of the first and that proved to be all the run support that Clayton Jerome needed as the Horned Frogs defeated East Carolina, 8-2, in the series opener. Jerome (8-1) scattered seven hits over eight innings, allowing just one earned run with eight strikeouts to earn his sixth consecutive victory. In game two of the series, Chris Meeks scored the game-winning run in the top of the 10th on a squeeze play to lift TCU to 4-3 victory over ECU. In the series finale, TCU scored in every inning but the first en route to a 12-6 win over East Carolina at Lupton Stadium and Williams-Reilly Field. The triumph completed the Horned Frogs' three-game sweep of the Pirates.
ONE FOR THE SMALL GUYS
Two of ECU's top three hitters on offense happen to only stand 5-8. Despite their size, Ryan Jones and Jamie Paige have been very intimidating for opposing pitchers. The two combined have 148 hits including 35 doubles, five triples, 19 home runs, 100 RBI, 19 stolen bases, 62 walks and 105 runs scored. Jones is hitting .418 and slugging .927 while Paige is hitting .389 slugging .478.
NOTING THE PIRATES
-ECU broke the single-season school record for home runs with Ryan Norwood's 13th homer of the season in the SLU series finale. The team has hit 87 this season surpassing the 2001 squad's mark of 85 home runs.
-The Pirates enter the next two C-USA weekend series needing three wins to clinch the C-USA regular season title.
-Junior right-hander Matt Bishop has become a top choice out of the bullpen after recovering from surgery. Bishop has made 11 appearances this season posting a 1.82 ERA. He has struck out 32 in 24.2 innings while holding opponents to five earned runs and has not walked one batter. Bishop is 4-0 with two saves.
-Since starting conference play, the Pirates are hitting .352 as a team in their last 25 games including 67 doubles and 55 home runs.
-ECU has been a second-half kind of team on offense in 2004. Of the Pirates 413 runs scored, 244 (60%) have come in or after the fifth inning. ECU has outscored opponents 65-24 in the fifth inning, 65-33 in the sixth inning, 34-17 in the seventh inning, 46-32 in the eighth and 33-11 in the ninth.
-Senior Ryan Jones continues to lead the nation slugging .927. Of Jones' 69 hits, 44 are extra-base hits including 22 doubles and 18 home runs. He tied the ECU single-season record against UNCW and needs one to set a new record.
-Red-shirt freshman Mike Grace added six hits and five RBI in the SLU series including a triple, double and a home run. In 70 at-bats, Grace has 24 RBI with five of his 19 hits serving as home runs.
-Sophomore Trevor Lawhorn leads the nation in home runs per game (0.43) having hit 20 on the season. He needs just three more to set a new ECU single season record.
A PAIR OF RYANS
Senior center fielder Ryan Jones and junior Ryan Norwood are two of ECU's top three hitters. At 5-8, Jones leads the team hitting .418 with 22 doubles, 18 home runs and 63 RBI. At 6-4, Norwood tied Jones for the single-season doubles record. He has 22 doubles on the season with 13 home runs and 45 RBI while hitting .374.
UP NEXT
East Carolina hits the road for its final regular season series at C-USA foe Southern Miss next Thurs.- Sat.
