ECU Moves Up To No. 23 In NCBWA Poll
February 23, 2009 | Baseball
Feb. 23, 2009
DALLAS, Texas - On the heels of an opening season series sweep of Monmouth, the East Carolina baseball team moved up four spots to No. 23 in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) poll that was released Monday afternoon.
Led by Conference USA Hitter-of-the-Week Stephen Batts, the Pirates (3-0) are off to their best start since the 2004 campaign when they opened the season with a 12-0 record. Batts led the Pirates with a .643 (9-for-14) batting average, scored a team-high six runs and recorded a pair of four-hit games. On the weekend, ECU batted .365 with 38 hits, 27 runs, collected five doubles, three triples and two home runs.
Sophomore Seth Maness and junior Chris Heston provided an effective one-two punch on the mound as they both picked up wins as starters. Maness, a preseason all-american selection, scattered five hits over seven innings, allowed one run and fanned six batters. Heston was equally impressive in his Pirate debut striking out nine batters, allowing one run on two hits in seven innings. As a whole, the Pirates pitching staff allowed just four earned runs, struck out 26, walked seven and posted a 1.33 earned run average.
The NCBWA continues its tradition of NCAA Division I polls for the 12th year with its 2009 weekly surveys. Weekly polls will be circulated from Feb. 23-June 25 following the NCAA World Series in Omaha, Neb. The poll voters come from 30 college baseball writers and related media persons from throughout the nation.
This week's poll has representation by 12 different conferences among the 302 baseball-playing schools in the 2009 NCAA Division I ranks. There have been 17 different leagues among the '09 polls to date. For more information or to join the NCBWA, please go to www.ncbwa.com.
ECU will continue its current eight-game home stand when they play host to No. 12 Oklahoma State this Thursday, Feb. 26 before hosting the Sixth Annual Keith LeClair Classic. First pitch against the Cowboys is scheduled for 5 p.m. (ET).
Feb. 23, 2009 NCBWA Poll
1. North Carolina 3-0
2. LSU 3-0
3. Texas A&M 4-0
4. Georgia 3-0
5. Florida State 4-0
6. Arizona State 4-0
7. Texas 4-0
8. Georgia Tech 3-0
9. Rice 1-2
10. Miami (Fla.) 3-1
11. Stanford 2-1
12. Oklahoma State 4-0
13. Florida 3-0
14. UC Irvine 3-1
15. Fresno State 2-1
16. Cal State Fullerton 1-2
17. San Diego 2-1
18. Coastal Carolina 3-1
19. Clemson 3-0
20. Baylor Big 2-1
21. Pepperdine 2-1
22. Oklahoma 4-0
23. EAST CAROLINA 3-0
24. Mississippi 1-2
25. Michigan 4-0
26. UCLA 2-1
27. TCU 2-1
28. Louisville 0-3
29. Arkansas 3-0
30. Kentucky 2-2
