Pirates Host Aggies Tuesday Afternoon at Clark-LeClair Stadium
March 08, 2005 | Baseball
Noting the Pirates
On the season, East Carolina is hitting .314 as a team with 14 home runs through 11 games. The Pirates are out-scoring their opponents 86-60 and have currently won six of their last seven games. ECU has now defeated four different ranked opponents this season after beating Georgia 7-1 on Sunday.
Billy Richardson currently leads the team in batting with a .421 average in 51 plate appearances this season. The senior shortstop has started all 11 games in the lead-off spot, scoring a team-best 16 runs while ranking second on the team in RBI with 13. Richardson's 21 hits and three stolen bases also lead the Pirates offense. Jay Mattox (.406) and Brian Cavanaugh (.391) are also swinging the bat well. Mattox has collected 13 hits in 32 at-bats while Cavanaugh, who has seen time in all three outfield positions, is tied for second on the team with two stolen bases. Mark Minicozzi and Drew Costanzo each have three home runs to lead the team. Minicozzi is batting .341 and currently leads the Pirates with 14 RBI. Costanzo has driven in 11 runs this season while Mike Grace also has double-digit RBiI with 10.
ECU's three regular starters all have an ERA under four. P.J. Connelly and Mike Flye have an identical 3.24 ERA. Connelly has thrown a team-high 25 innings this season with a 2-0 record. Flye (3-1) has stuck out 12 batters in his 16 2/3 innings of work this season. Jeff Ostrander, who earned C-USA Pitcher of the Week honors this week, earned his first collegiate win Sunday vs. Georgia and currently has an ERA of 3.93. T.J. Hose leads the team with a 0.93 ERA in 9 2/3 innings of work. The freshman right-hander holds a record of 1-0 with one save. Hose has also struck out seven batters this season while only allowing three hits. Opponents are batting .103 against him. Scott Andrews pitched well in relief this weekend with 4 1/3 innings of no-hit baseball versus Arizona State.
ABOUT THE AGGIES
N.C. A&T is led offensively by sophomore outfielder Jeremy Jones. Jones leads the Aggies in nearly every offensive category including average (.429), at-bats (56), runs (10), hits (24), doubles (10), triples (2) and RBI (10). Nic Mayo is second on the team with a .355 batting average.
The Aggies pitching staff is led by closer Richard Hawk. Hawk currently has a 0.96 ERA in nine appearances this season. The senior right-hander has collected three saves and 12 strikeouts in 9 1/3 innings of work. John Primus (2-0, three starts), Michael Huff (1-1, four starts) and Ian DiGiorgia (2-2, four starts) have all logged over 20 innings this season.
PIRATES vs. A&T
East Carolina and North Carolina A&T have only met five times with ECU holding a 5-0 advantage in the series. The teams met last season in Greenville with the Pirates taking a 2-0 victory. Scott Andrews took home the victory with the Pirates advancing to 8-0 on the season.
UP NEXT
East Carolina will host Navy this weekend at Clark-LeClair Stadium for a three-game series March 11-13. Game times for the series are 7 p.m. on Friday, 6 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. ECU will then host High Point on Tuesday, March 15 before traveling to UNC Wilmington on March 16.
