Pirates Travel to Louisville As Cardinals Open Jim Patterson Stadium
April 15, 2005 | Baseball
GREENVILLE, N.C.--ECU will play their fifth conference series this weekend as the Pirates travel to Louisville to face the Cardinals in a three-game series as UofL opens its brand new Jim Patterson Stadium. East Carolina finished 2-2 last week, including its first series victory in C-USA play this season, taking two of three from No. 27 Southern Miss at home. After falling at No. 33 N.C. State on Wednesday, ECU lost Friday's contest to the Golden Eagles before winning the final two games of the series. Wednesday's game versus No. 7 North Carolina was post-poned due to inclement weather.
ABOUT ECU
The Pirates are currently 18-13 overall and 4-8 in C-USA play. ECU has played 16 of its 31 games against ranked opponents with the Pirates holding a 7-9 record in those games. As a team, ECU is hitting .307 with five regular starters hitting above .320 thus far. The pitching staff holds an ERA of 5.48 in 272 2/3 innings of work. Eleven different pitchers have thrown double-digit innings this year with eight different hurlers making a start.
Senior outfielder Brian Cavanaugh leads all active hitters on the Pirate ballclub with a .422 average this season and a .439 average in conference play. Cavanaugh, who is batting just one point behind injured Billy Richardson, is leading the team in nearly every offensive category in C-USA play. He leads the club through 12 conference games in runs (10), hits (18), triples (2), RBI (11), total bases (27) and stolen bases (2). Cavanaugh is slugging .578 this season while leading the club with an on-base percentage of .520. Harrison Eldridge ranks third on the team with a .333 average while Mark Minicozzi (.324) and Mike Grace (.322) are producing in the middle of the Pirate lineup. Grace leads the team with 14 doubles while ranking second with five home runs while Minicozzi continues to lead the team with 28 RBI. Drew Costanzo has seven round-trippers to lead ECU and has also collected 26 walks through 31 games. Costanzo, who has struggled offensively in conference with a .211 batting average in 12 games, has made up for it with 10 walks and four hit-by-pitches in C-USA play. He ranks third on the club in conference action with a .415 on-base percentage. Dale Mollenhauer is hitting well in place of Richardson at shortstop. Mollenhauer, who has played in all 12 games in conference while starting nine, is hitting .293 in C-USA games with one homer and five RBI. On the season, Mollenhauer is hitting .289 with 13 RBI and 12 runs scored.
Scott Andrews and Kevin Rhodes have thrown well as of late for head coach Randy Mazey's ballclub. Andrews leads the team with a 3.68 ERA in C-USA play while holding a 4.18 ERA in 28 innings of work this season. The junior left-hander holds a record of 3-1, striking out 24 batters and walking just nine while holding opponents to a .243 batting average against him. Rhodes (2-1) has an ERA of 4.42 in C-USA action and 5.01 overall. The junior right-hander has logged 23 1/3 innings in eight appearances out of the bullpen. P.J. Connelly leads the staff with 46 1/3 innings this year, starting a conference-high 10 games. Mike Flye, who leads the club with four wins this season, also picked up his first save of the year Saturday in a 7-5 win over Southern Miss. T.J. Hose, who leads the club with 12 appearances, made his first career start in Saturday's game, tossing 6 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out three and walking one. On the season, Hose holds a 6.30 ERA and a record of 1-3 in 30 innings pitched. Ricky Brooks (2-2, 5.52 ERA) leads the club, holding opponents to a .200 batting average against him.
ABOUT LOUISILLE
Louisville (17-12, 7-4) enters this weekends contest winning two of its last three games and have dropped four of its last six in Conference USA. After losing the opening game to Houston 5-1, the Cardinals bounced back to win the final two games 3-2 and 10-6 to capture their third series win of the season in league play.
Wednesday night, Louisville dropped a heartbreaker to instate rival Kentucky 4-3 when Kentucky shortstop Ryan Wilkes hit a slow roller off the left side of his bat plating the game-winner in the bottom of the tenth. Freshman Mike Lynn made his third start going 3 1/3 innings while giving up four hits and two runs. Offensively, junior Boomer Whiting collected two hits, scored a pair of runs and drew one walk to pace the Cardinals.
In C-USA action, Louisville (7-4) is tied for fourth place with USF. Senior J.T. LaFountain made his first career start at catcher on Sunday against Houston going 3-for-4 with two RBI. He also moved into 10th place on the school's all-time RBI list with 199. LaFountain leads the team in batting average (.356), home runs (7), RBI (26), total bases (64), slugging percentage (.615) and is tied for first in doubles (6). Whiting ranks first in runs (34) and hits (38), while Nick Haley leads in at-bats (116), triples (2) and walks (14).
The Cardinal pitching staff holds an ERA of 4.42 in 252 2/3 innings this season. Skylar Meade leads the team with a 4-1 record while sophomore B.J. Rosenberg is 3-1 with an ERA of 3.86 in 42 innings pitched. Sophomore RHP Trystan Magnuson is 2-3 on the season with an ERA of 4.09. In 33 innings pitched, he has allowed 32 hits, 15 earned runs and has recorded a team-best 31 strikeouts. Reliever Griffin Bailey leads the team in ERA (1.33), appearances (16) and is holding opposing batters to a .180 average against him. Senior RHP Brian Halford picked up his fourth save of the season on Saturday against Houston. In 16 appearances, he is 1-1 with a 2.01 ERA.
ECU ALL-TIME vs. LOUISVILLE
The Pirates hold a 7-3 advantage over Louisville in the brief history between the two schools. The Pirates have won the last five contests, sweeping the Cardinals at Harrington Field last year while taking two of three from UofL in Louisville two seasons ago. Matt Bishop, Brody Taylor and Kevin Rhodes all picked up wins for ECU on the weekend.
UP NEXT FOR EAST CAROLINA
After the three-game series at Louisville, ECU returns home to face N.C. State on Wed., April 20 for the second of three meetings between the school's this season. The Pirates will then welcome Memphis to Clark-LeClair Stadium April 22-25.
