Pirates Look to Rebound at Home Against UNC Wilmington
March 23, 2005 | Baseball
GREENVILLE, N.C.--East Carolina returns home for a five-game homestand starting tonight as the Pirates play host to in-state foe UNC Wilmington at Clark-LeClair Stadium at 7 p.m.
ECU (12-7, 0-3 C-USA) finished 1-3 this past week with a win over High Point at home last Tuesday and three losses over the weekend at No. 3 Tulane on the first conference weekend. The Pirates lost two close games to Tulane on Friday and Sunday this past weekend. Friday's contest ended with a Nathan Southard walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Green Wave the 6-5 victory and in Sunday's contest, ECU took a 6-4 lead into the bottom of the eighth but Tulane was able to plate four runners in the bottom half of the inning before the game was called due to the Conference USA curfew rule.
ABOUT EAST CAROLINA
The Pirates as a team are hitting .324 with seven regulars hitting .324 or better. ECU is averaging 8.9 runs per game with 23 home runs and 16 stolen bases as a team.
Brian Cavanaugh is leading all regulars with a .429 batting average this season. The senior outfielder also leads the Pirates with a .520 on base percentage. Cavanaugh is tied for third on the club with eight walks thus far and has collected nine RBI, 10 runs, one home run and three steals this season. Billy Richardson is also batting over .400 with a .412 average and a team-high 85 at-bats. The senior shortstop continues to lead the team in runs (29), hits (35), triples (3) and stolen bases (6). He also ranks third on the club with 21 RBI and is tied for second with three homers. Mark Minicozzi continues to produce in the middle of the lineup, leading the club with 23 RBI. Minicozzi is batting .333 with three home runs, six doubles and 18 runs scored. Freshman Harrison Eldridge has come on strong as of late, hitting .483 in the last eight contests. In that span, Eldridge is tied for a team high in hits (14), while ranking second with 10 RBI. On the season, Eldridge is batting .388 with 11 starts in rightfield. Outfielder Drew Costanzo leads the ballclub and the conference with seven homers while ranking second in RBI (22) and runs (20).
P.J. Connelly leads all starters with a 3.41 ERA in six starts this season. The senior left-hander has tossed a team-high 34 1/3 innings, striking out 19 and walking 12. Jeff Ostrander holds a 3.67 ERA in five starts. Ostrander leads the club with 21 strikeouts and is holding opponents to a .242 batting average. T.J. Hose continues to be to go-to-guy out of the bullpen with eight appearances thus far, two more than any starter and three more than any reliever. Hose tossed a career-high 4 1/3 innings versus Tulane Sunday in a losing effort. On the season, Hose has logged 16 innings pitched, allowing just nine hits while striking out 14 and walking eight. Cody Leggett leads the team with a 1.42 ERA in five appearances. In 6 1/3 innings pitched, Leggett has allowed just two hits while striking out four and walking two. Brett Braxton (6.48 ERA, 8 1/3 IP) and Scott Andrews (6.57 ERA, 12 1/3 IP) each own a record of 1-0 with Braxton having made one start and Andrews making his first today.
ABOUT UNC WILMINGTON
After getting off to a 7-10 start to the season, UNCW has won six straight games and currently sit three games over .500 at 13-10. The Seahawks are coming off back-to-back series sweeps of Utah and Siena. Over their recent winning streak, UNCW out-scored their opponents 46-17.
As a team, UNCW is hitting .283 and has scored 135 runs (5.9 rpg). UNC Wilmington relies on their team speed as opposed to power. In 23 games thus far, the Seahawks have slugged just 10 homers while stealing 42 bases. In fact, UNCW has been very successful on the base paths, swiping 87.5% (42-of-48) of attempted bases this season. Senior outfielder Tim Preston leads the club with nine steals while junior outfielder John Raynor has swiped eight. Both Preston and Raynor are perfect on the base paths this season, stealing a combined 17-of-17.
Preston leads the Seahawks offensively with a .366 batting average in 93 at-bats thus far. Preston has one home run, 14 RBI and 17 runs scored. Matt Poulk leads UNCW with three round-trippers and is tied with Lee McLean for a team-high 15 RBI. Poulk also leads the club in at-bats (95), runs scored (19), doubles (12) and slugging percentage (.537). Jonathan Batts ranks second on the ballclub with a .324 average while Poulk ranks third hitting a .316 clip in 2005.
The Seahawk pitching staff holds a 3.46 ERA and has five pitchers that have collected multiple wins this season. Ronald Hill (3-3) and Zach Kimball (2-3) have each started seven games while Allen Flood (1-1) leads the club with 13 appearances, all in relief. Hill, a senior right-hander, owns a 2.85 ERA with a team-high 41 innings pitched this season. Jeff Moore owns a perfect 2-0 record with a team-best 1.09 ERA in 24 2/3 innings pitched. Moore has allowed just three earned runs this season despite giving up 23 hits on the season. Appearing in 10 games and starting three, Moore, who leads the team with two saves, has struck out 20 batters while only walking three. Adam Paul (1.23 ERA, 14 2/3 IP), Flood (2.61 ERA, 20 2/3 IP) and Zach Booker (3.57 ERA, 17 2/3 IP) have all pitched well this season out of the Seahawk bullpen.
ALL-TIME SERIES vs. UNCW
East Carolina has faced UNC Wilmington more than any other opponent in the history of the baseball program with the Pirates and Seahawks facing each other 108 times. ECU holds a slight edge in the all-time record with a 58-50 mark versus UNCW. The two teams faced each other four times in 2004, with the Pirates winning three, including two in the NCAA Kinston Regional. Wilmington won the first contest in '04 in Greenville with a 15-5 victory over the Pirates and exactly one week later, ECU returned the favor in Wilmington with a 3-0 win. The Pirates then took out the Seahawks twice in Kinston, defeating UNCW 11-4 and 7-0 in the regional championship game.
UP NEXT FOR EAST CAROLINA
After the game versus UNCW, the Pirates will remain in Greenville to host their first conference series in Clark-LeClair Stadium with in-state rival Charlotte coming to town March 25-27. ECU will then face Campbell Wed., March 30 at home before traveling to TCU the first weekend in April.
