ECU Baseball Hosts Third Annual Keith LeClair Classic
February 23, 2006 | Baseball
Feb. 23, 2006
Pirate Gameday Central l KLC Gameday Central
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- East Carolina welcomes N.C. State, Penn State, Virginia Tech, UNC Wilmington and West Virginia to Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium this weekend as it hosts the Third Annual Keith LeClair Classic, sponsored by Wachovia and Trade-Wilco, Feb. 24-26. The classic, being played for the second time at Clark-LeClair Stadium after the inaugural season was hosted at Harrington Field, honors former Pirate skipper Keith LeClair, who is couragously battling ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).
The first game Friday will feature Virginia Tech and UNC Wilmington at 10 a.m. with N.C. State and West Virginia squaring off at approximately 1:30 p.m. The Pirates will face Penn State Friday afternoon at approximately 5 p.m. J.D. and Audrey LeClair, son and daughter of Keith and Lynn LeClair, will throw out the first pitch prior to the ECU-PSU game.
Team Notes
EAST CAROLINA (5-2)
• Senior catcher Jake Smith and junior outfielder Ryan Tousley had career-days in Tuesday's 19-5 win over Duke. The duo each drove in a career-best five RBI, combining on 10 of the team's 17 on the day. Smith, who finished 3-for-6, doubled twice and scored three runs while reaching base in all five plate appearances. Tousley, playing in just his sixth game, finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored and his team-best second home run of the season. On the season, Smith is hitting .357 with a team-best 10 RBI while Tousley is hitting at a .273 clip with six RBI.
• The starting duo of T.J. Hose and Dustin Sasser continue to carry the team through the first two weeks of the season. In the duo's combined four starts, ECU has out-scored its opponents 16-4 with Hose and Sasser allowing a combined two earned runs in the four games. Both hurlers currently have an ERA of 0.75 in 12 innings of work and have combined to strikeout 22 while walking just three. Hose leads the Pirates with two wins and 14 strikeouts.
• Seven different hitters have seen action through the first seven games of the season for ECU. In addition to redshirt freshman Stephen Batts, newcomers Drew Schieber, Ryan Tousley, Jake Dean, Brandon Henderson, Chris Buss and Ryan Wood have all played crucial roles in ECU's 5-2 start. With the exception of Wood, all of the newcomers have started at least one game, while Batts and Dean have started all seven. The group is hitting a combined .282 (28-for-99), collecting 48 percent of ECU's RBI and 32 percent of ECU's runs.
• For the second consecutive year, senior outfielder Jay Mattox leads the Pirates in hitting coming into the Keith LeClair Classic. Last season, ECU was 6-4 coming into the classic with Mattox leading all hitters with a .406 average. Then a junior, Mattox was 13-for-32 with a home run, three doubles, three RBI and six runs scored. Through seven games this season, Mattox has similar numbers, hitting .429 (9-for-21) with one homer, one double, three RBI and four runs scored. Mattox has also swiped one of the Pirates' two stolen bases while he is also perfect defensively in six starts in center.
N.C. STATE (9-1)
• Sophomore 3B Matt Mangini is off to one of the most impressive starts in the history of collegiate baseball. Mangini is hitting .730 (27-for-37) with three home runs, 21 RBI, 16 runs and a slugging percentage of 1.216 through 10 games. Seven players have scored double-digit runs while five have collected at least 11 RBI. N.C. State runners have yet to be thrown out on the basepaths in 18 attempts thus far. Starting pitchers Jason Duncan and Gib Hobson are 6-0 in six starts between the two.
PENN STATE (0-3)
• Senior OF Lance Thompson has been the Nittany Lions top hitter coming into the weekend, batting .417 (5-for-12) with a home run, a double, four RBI and two runs scored. PSU has swiped four-of-five attempted steals with Travis Laird leading the club with a perfect 2-for-2 on the basepaths. Sophomore RHP Gary Amato is the lone Nittany Lion yet to allow a run, pitching a scoreless inning in relief at Tulane. Starting pitchers Craig Clark, Mark Wyner and Alan Stidfole all suffered losses to the Green Wave.
VIRGINIA TECH (2-0)
• Junior 3B Bryan Thomas has carried the Hokie offense through their first two games, hitting .700 (7-for-10) with two homers, 10 RBI and four runs scored. Thomas, who collected seven RBI in VT's 16-6 win over Campbell last week, is slugging 1.400 and carries an on-base percentage of .727. Nate Parks, who has scored a team-high five runs, has stolen four of the team's five bases. RHPs Greg Fryman and Adam Redd have yet to allow a run with each picking up a win in relief in a combined 6 2/3 innings.
UNC WILMINGTON (5-1)
• Senior OF John Raynor (.652) leads six UNCW hitters that are hitting .450 or better through their first six games. Raynor leads the club in hits (15) and on-base percentage (.704) while batting in the clean-up spot for the Seahawks. Chris Hatcher is hitting .619 with a team-high 15 runs while Matt Poulk leads the club with 11 RBI. Hatcher and Poulk have each stolen five of the team's 22 bases. RHP Allen Flood (1-0, 2.61 ERA, 10 1/3 IP, 6 K) and RHP Zach Booker (2-0, 2.84 ERA, 12 2/3 IP, 12 K) lead the pitching staff.
WEST VIRGINIA (3-0)
• Junior 3B Justin Jenkins and senior OF Stan Posluszny carried the Mountaineers' offense to a series sweep over Bucknell. Jenkins finished the weekend 5-for-12 with three runs scored, two RBI and two steals while Posluszny provided run production with the team's lone homer and six of the team's 22 RBI. RHP Dan Leatherman (1-0) held Bucknell hitless and scoreless in five innings of relief work, striking out five. Kenny Durst (0.00 ERA, 3 2/3 IP) and Eric Saffell (2.08 ERA, 4 1/3 IP) each earned a win in relief.
