East Carolina Baseball Notebook (Weekly Recap)
March 12, 2012 | Baseball
March 12, 2012
East Carolina Pirates (11-3)
Last Week's National Rankings: No. 29 (Perfect Game);
Receiving Votes (USA Today/Coaches and NCBWA)
Current Streak: W-3
Last Week: 3-1
Mar. 7 - Loss at Troy, 8-2
Mar. 9 - Win at Alabama, 3-1 (DRASH Alabama Baseball Classic)
Mar. 10 - Win vs. Oral Roberts, 4-2 (DRASH Alabama Baseball Classic)
Mar. 11 - Win vs. No. 20 Louisville, 9-4 (DRASH Alabama Baseball Classic)
Upcoming Week
Home vs. VCU (Mar. 13)
Home vs. Penn State (Mar. 16-18)
Pirate Hitter-of-the-Week
Drew Reynolds, Sophomore, INF/OF
Reynolds led the Pirates in hitting on the week batting .636 (7-for-11) with a home run, two runs and recorded three multi-hit games at the 2012 DRASH Alabama Baseball Classic, where the Pirates posted a 3-0 record ... During the tournament opener against Southeastern Conference member Alabama, Reynolds roped a pair of singles as the Pirates designated hitter going 2-for-4 ... On Saturday against Oral Roberts, he recorded a career-best three hits going 3-for-4 with a run scored - the game winner in the sixth inning ... To close out the tournament, he posted his third consecutive multi-hit game (fifth career) going 2-for-3 where he belted his first career home run to lead off the eighth inning against No. 20 Louisville ... He was hit by a pitch in the third frame and recorded a sac bunt in the ninth that led to a pair of ECU runs ... Reynolds, a two-way player for the Pirates, also toed the rubber working two-thirds of an inning against the Golden Eagles allowing one run (earned) on three hits with one strikeout ... On the season he is batting .476 (10-for-21) with a home run, a double and a pair of runs scored, while slugging .667 and posting a .500 on-base percentage.
Pirate Pitcher-of-the-Week
Kevin Brandt, Senior, LHP
Brandt allowed one run (earned) in eight innings of work against Alabama and set the tone for the Pirates to win the 2012 DRASH Alabama Baseball Classic going a perfect 3-0 on the weekend ... The southpaw registered seven punch outs on the night including the side in the second inning and four in a row with the first batter of the third frame (all swinging) ... He allowed six hits with two walks an improved to 3-1 on the season ... From the second inning until he closed the eighth Brandt settled down to retire 21 of the next 25 batters (three runners reached base in the first frame) ... The win was Brandt's 22nd of his career ranking him the Top 10 on the NCAA Active Career leaders ... With his seven strikeouts, he now has 228 for his career which ranks seventh among the NCAA Active Career leaders ... On the season he sports a 1.21 ERA where he has allowed seven runs (four earned) on 20 hits and has recorded 24 strikeouts to just six walks in 29.2 innings.
PIRATE NOTES
? ECU's pitching staff posted a 3.86 ERA allowing 15 runs (all earned) on 30 hits with 33 strikeouts and 18 walks on its 3-1 week in the state of Alabama ... On the season as a whole, they sport a Conference USA best 1.94 ERA in 125.0 innings with 98 strikeouts to 40 walks ... In 14 games, ECU has allowed 36 runs (27 earned) and are holding opposing hitters to a composite .210 batting average ... The bullpen has been impressive so far surrendering just eight runs (five earned) on 29 hits in 46.2 innings and boasting an outstanding 0.96 ERA.
? Sophomore Tanner Merritt tossed notched a pair of saves at the DRASH Alabama Baseball Classic working 1.1 shutout innings on the weekend in a pair of appearances ... The Greenville, N.C. native picked up his second save of the season tossing a scoreless ninth against SEC member Alabama where he allowed two hits and struck out a pair in ECU's 3-1 win ... The next day against Oral Roberts he entered the game with runners on the corners and two outs getting Cam Schiller to fly out to end the game collecting his third save on the year ... On the season he has appeared in a team-best eight games allowing one run (unearned) in 10.0 innings on six hits with eight strikeouts and two walks and sports a 0.00 ERA ... He is holding opposing hitters to a .167 composite average.
? True freshman Jeff Hoffman had a superb outing against No. 20 Louisville tossing four perfect innings and recording his first career save ... The right-hander from Latham, N.Y. entered Sunday's game in the sixth inning trying to preserve the win for ECU and shutdown the Cardinals offense recording one strikeout and throwing 38 pitches over the four frames ... This year he boasts a 0.00 ERA in four appearances working 7.1 innings where he has allowed one run (unearned) on three hits with a pair of punch outs.
? Junior Tyler Joyner recorded his third win of the season against Oral Roberts (Mar. 10) scattering five hits over six innings with a career-high seven strikeouts ... The left-hander surrendered one run (solo homer) and didn't allow more than one base runner through the first five frames ... He had multiple strikeouts in the second and fourth stanzas ... In four outings, he sports a 1.12 ERA (ranking second in Conference USA) with 16 strikeouts to just five walks and has allowed three runs (all earned) on 16 hits in 24.0 innings ... Opposing hitters are batting .193 against him.
? Relievers DeShorn Lake (freshman) and Andy Smithmyer (junior) added scoreless innings out of the bullpen for the Pirates ... Lake made his second appearance of the season against Troy logging a perfect 1.1 innings of work ... Smithmyer appeared in his fourth game in relief against Oral Roberts where he tossed two scoreless frames allowing two hits and recording a pair of strikeouts ... In four outings, Smithmyer has fanned 10 batters in 9.0 innings allowing two runs (one earned) on nine hits for a 1.00 ERA.
? Junior Jharel Cotton recorded his third win of the season in Sunday's 9-4 victory against No. 20 Louisville ... Cotton improved to 3-0 on the year despite struggling on the day ... The right-hander went five innings allowing four runs (all earned) on six hits with five walks and five strikeouts ... In four outings this year, the St. Thomas, V.I. native has a 2.53 ERA with 15 strikeouts and seven walks in 21.2 innings ... He has allowed seven runs (six earned) on 18 hits.
? Senior Zach Wright drove in a team-high four runs on the week including three in ECU's 4-2 win against Oral Roberts ... The three-time Johnny Bench Award Watch List candidate drove in the first run against the Golden Eagles on a single in the second frame and then had a two-RBI double (third of the season) during the Pirates' three-run sixth for his 11th career game-winning hit ... In the tournament finale against No. 20 Louisville, Wright reached on a two-out error in the second inning which started a four-run rally giving the Pirates the lead which they would never relinquish ... His lone hit of the day came in the ninth inning where he executed a perfect suicide squeeze attempt placing a ball down the third base line and scoring Jay Cannon for the final run of the game ... On the season, Wright has started all 14 games behind the dish where he is batting .250 (12-for-48) with six RBI and six run scored.
? Sophomore Ben Fultz drove in a pair of runs against No. 20 Louisville with a RBI single up the middle capping the Pirates four-run, two-out second frame ... On the week he batted .333 (3-for-9) with three runs scored ... Fellow classmate Chase McDonald and senior Corey Thompson also drove in a pair of runs on the week ... Thompson, who sat out Saturday's game and was used in a platoon role on Sunday because of illness, leads the Pirates with a .386 average (17-for-44) which ranks fourth in C-USA ... He has driven in a team-best 11 RBI and is tied with Cannon and John Wooten for the team lead in runs scored at nine.
? Head Coach Billy Godwin recorded his 490th career and 228th Pirate win on Sunday against No. 20 Louisville ... He ranks second all-time on ECU's wins list and trails only ECU Hall of Famer Gary Overton (427).
