Baseball Looks To Complete Series Sweep Against Stony Brook
March 01, 2012 | Baseball
March 1, 2012
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| East Carolina vs. Stony Brook Mar. 4, 2012 | 1 p.m. ET Greenville, N.C. RADIO: WNCT 1070 AM |
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SERIES HISTORY
? Friday's game will mark the fifth time the two schools have met with the Pirates holding a 4-0 record ... Back in March of 2006, ECU completed a three-game home sweep of Stony Brook (12-0, 4-0, 4-3) ... Prior to that the Pirates and Seawolves met in the 2004 NCAA Kinston Regional (Grainger Stadium), where the Pirates claimed an 8-2 victory and went on to face South Carolina in the NCAA Super Regionals.
THINGS TO KNOW
? East Carolina looks to get back to its winning ways after dropping 2-of-3 games in the Ninth Annual Keith LeClair Classic last weekend ... The Pirates boast an all-time 13-1 record against teams from the America East.
? Friday night's game will pit two of the top NCAA Active Career Leaders in wins against one another as RHP Tyler Johnson (0-0/1.50 ERA) and LHP Kevin Brandt (1-1/1.98 ERA) are scheduled to toe the rubber ... Johnson currently ranks fourth on the active NCAA wins list with 23 victories, while Brandt is tied for 10th at 20 ... Brandt also ranks eighth on the NCAA Career strikeouts list with 217.
? According to WarrenNolan.com both the Seawolves and Pirates rank among the Top 20 teams in defensive runs per game in 2012 ... Stony Brook has allowed an average of 2.2 runs per game (ninth-best) in four games, while ECU is giving up 2.4 runs per contest (11th-best) in seven outings.
? Corey Thompson is rated as the fourth-best third baseman in Perfect Game's most recent College Power Rankings ... The senior from Apex, N.C. is batting a team second-best .462 (12-for-26) with two home runs, two doubles, eight RBI and six runs scored.
? ECU's pitching staff sports a 1.57 ERA in 63.0 innings with 54 strikeouts to just 14 walks ... In seven games, the Pirates have allowed 17 runs (11 earned) and are holding opposing hitters to a composite .196 batting average ... The bullpen has been impressive so far this season surrendering just two runs (one earned) on 14 hits in 25.2 innings and boasting an outstanding 0.35 ERA.
? While the Pirate offense is batting .312 on the season through seven games, they have already hit nine home runs (1.23 per game) coming off the bat of six different players ... Currently Thompson, Jack Reinheimer and John Wooten all share the team lead with two round trippers ... The nine homers are tied for the third most through seven games under head coach Billy Godwin's watch ... Back in 2008, the Pirates belted 11 long balls followed by the 2009 club's 12 dingers ... If they keep up this pace, they are scheduled to hit 69 home runs in the regular season, which would rank among the Top 10 all time at ECU.
? ECU's Brandt and Zach Wright along with Stony Brook's Travis Jankowski and Pat Cantwell will be reunited on the diamond this weekend when the two teams meet Friday night ... The quartet of players were all teammates with the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod Baseball League last summer.
? The Pirates dropped 10 spots to No. 30 in the latest Perfect Game poll ... They are also receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches/ESPN and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).
PIRATES TO WATCH
? Senior Tim Younger is off to one of the hottest starts in college baseball where he is batting an outstanding .550 (11-for-20) and boasts a .625 on-base percentage, both of which are leading the Pirates and Conference USA ... The Clearwater, Fla. native, who was named the ninth recipient of ECU's honorary No. 23 jersey, is slugging .600 (ninth-best in C-USA) to go along with his four RBI, six runs, four walks and current owns a career-best seven-game hitting streak ... In the field he sports a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage recording 20 putouts and 19 assists.
? Junior John Wooten ranks third on the team with a .318 average (7-for-22) entering this weekends play ... Even though his 11-game hit streak ended against Purdue, he still has recorded at least one hit in 12 of his last 13 games dating back to the start of the 2011 Conference USA Championships ... Currently he leads the Pirates with eight walks, while ranking second in walks (six) and third in RBI (five) ... Wooten has already surpassed his home run total from a year ago belting a pair of homers on the season, one of which was the game-winning hit at Old Dominion (Feb. 22) in midweek action.
? Sophomore INF/RHP Drew Reynolds picked up his third save of the season against Western Carolina working a scoreless ninth ... In the tournament finale against Maryland, he entered the contest with the bases loaded in the ninth allowing a hit and striking out two ... In four appearances this season, he boasts a 0.00 ERA with five strikeouts and one walk in 3.0 innings and has notched three saves.
? Junior left-hander Tyler Joyner notched his second win of the season in his first collegiate start against Western Carolina (Feb. 25) ... The southpaw worked seven innings allowing one runs (earned) on three hits with three strikeouts ... Against the Catamounts, he retired the side in order four times and did not face more than four batters in any frame and only allowed four runners to reach base (3 hits, 1 hit by pitch) ... In two outings on the season, Joyner is 2-0 with a 0.77 ERA ... He has allowed just one run (earned) on four hits with a walk and seven strikeouts in 11.2 innings of work ... Joyner is holding opposing batters to a composite .108 average.
? Sophomore Jack Reinheimer has found his power stroke early this season belting two home runs ... On the first pitch of the 2012 season, he smacked his first collegiate home run sending a shot to left field ... During midweek action at Old Dominion (Feb. 22) he blasted his second round tripper, a two-run shot, to left field ... On the season he is batting .286 (8-for-28) with six RBI and four runs scored.
SCOUTING STONY BROOK
? The Seawolves enter this weekend's action on the heels of a tournament sweep at the Colonel Round Robin where they posted a 4-0 record ... In their last outing junior James Campbell allowed just one run on two hits in 7.0 innings helping the Seawolves to a 4-1 victory over host Nicholls State ... Campbell struck out a career-high seven and shut down the Colonels over his final 6.0 innings allowing a run in the first ... Sophomore Frankie Vanderka pitched a perfect eight and ninth to pick up the save ... They piled up 12 hits including two each from senior Pat Cantwell, juniors Travis Jankowski and Maxx Tissenbaum and freshman Kevin Krause.
? Stony Brook moved up two spots to No. 15 in this week's College Baseball Daily Mid-Major Top 25 ... The Seawolves pitching staff posted an ERA of 2.00 last weekend and allowed just 25 hits in 36.0 innings ... Senior Evan Stecko-Haley allowed just two hits in 8.0 shutout innings in Stony Brook's 6-0 win over Alabama State on Saturday ... Stecko-Haley was named America East Pitcher-of-the-Week for his efforts ... Sophomore Frankie Vanderka pitched 3.0 shutout innings in relief on Friday against Alabama State to earn the win ... He then tossed 2.0 perfect innings against Nicholls State on Sunday to earn the save ... Travis Jankowski hit .400 with five runs scored and three steals for the weekend.
? Stony Brooks boasts a trio of preseason all-americans on its 2012 roster highlighted by Jankowski, who was also named to the Golden Spikes 50-man preseason watch list by USA Baseball, which is presented annual to the top amateur player in the country ... In 2011, Jankowski hit .355 was then chosen as the MVP of the prestigious Cape Cod League over the summer ... He has garnered preseason All-America honors from the NCBWA, Baseball America and Perfect Game and was also named the America East's top MLB Draft prospect by Baseball America.
? Joining Jankowski are juniors William Carmona (first-team) and Maxx Tissenbaum (third-team) who were Louisville Slugger Preseason All-America selections by Collegiate Baseball ... Carmona hit .357 last season and set school records for hits (80) and doubles (27) as he became the first America East player since 1998 to be named a first team All-American ... The 2011 America East Player-of-the-Year ranked third in the nation in doubles and led the America East in five offensive categories including hits and average ... Tissenbaum earned first-team All-America East honors last season, hitting .343 with 20 doubles and 43 RBI. An ABCA All-Northeast Region second-team selection, Tissenbaum led the America East with 55 runs scored and ranked second in the conference in RBI and on-base percentage (.433).
