No. 25 ECU Looks To Complete Series Sweep
March 16, 2012 | Baseball
March 18, 2012
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| No. 25 East Carolina vs. Penn State Mar. 18, 2012 | 1 p.m. (EST) Greenville, N.C. RADIO: WNCT 1070 AM |
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SERIES HISTORY
? Friday night's game will mark the second meeting between the two schools ... ECU holds a 1-0 all-time record and picked up the series' first win on Feb. 24, 2006 during the Keith LeClair Classic, 4-3 ... The Pirates hold an 11-8 record against current members of the Big-Ten ... Earlier this year in the Ninth Annual LeClair Classic, the Pirates fell to Purdue, 6-4.
THINGS TO KNOW
? Reigning Conference USA Hitter-of-the-Week honoree Drew Reynolds is in the midst of a career-best four-game hitting streak where he is batting .533 (8-for-15) with a home run, two RBI and a pair of doubles ... Reynolds belted his first career home run against No. 20 Louisville in the 2012 DRASH Alabama Classic and recorded multiple hits in all three games ... On the mound he is a perfect 5-for-5 in save opportunities, where he boasts a 1.59 ERA with seven strikeouts in 5.2 innings ... In seven appearances he has allowed one run (earned) on six hits and ranks seventh nationally in saves.
? Jay Cannon is currently riding a career-best five-game hit streak of his own where he is batting .400 (6-for-15) with two RBI, six runs and two doubles ... The junior outfielder is batting .325 (13-for-40) with a home run, three doubles and six RBI ... Currently he shares the team lead with John Wooten with 11 runs scored.
? ECU junior Jharel Cotton (3-0, 2.53 ERA) will look to close out the series against Penn State when he takes the mound Sunday afternoon ... Heading into the weekend, Cotton has worked 21.1 innings allowing seven runs (six earned) on 18 hits with 15 strikeouts and seven walks ... He has recorded a pair of quality starts (Milwaukee and Stony Brook) ranking third among starting pitchers behind Kevin Brandt (five) and Tyler Joyner (three).
? The Pirates have won six of their last eight games suffering losses only in midweek action to Troy (8-2) and VCU (18-11) ... During weekend action, ECU has won its last seven outings and owns a 10-2 record on the weekends.
? Following the NCAA's most recent national ranking summary (Mar. 11), the Pirates pitching staff entered this week's action with the third-lowest ERA (1.94) in the country trailing Texas State (1.50) and South Carolina (1.56) ... But that all changed after their 18-11 loss at home to VCU ... The staff ERA ballooned to 2.89 after allowing 16 earned runs ... The staff as a whole has allowed 54 runs (43 earned) on 112 hits with 106 strikeouts and 49 walks in 134.0 innings.
? Heading into this weeks action, the Pirates are ranked No. 25 by Perfect Game and are receiving votes in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) polls.
? Though we are just entering week five of the collegiate baseball season, the Pirates have the third-best RBI in Conference USA ranking 20th by both WarrenNolan.com and BoydsWorld.com ... ECU trails only Rice (No. 2/2) and UCF (No. 16/14) by both sites.
PIRATES TO WATCH
? Senior Zach Wright was named to the 2012 Johnny Bench Award Watch List for the third-straight year ... The Goldsboro, N.C. native is fourth catcher in ECU history to be named to the Bench Watch List following Jake Smith (2006 winner), Corey Kemp (2007-08 semifinalist) and Jared Avchen (2010) ... Wright finally belted his first home run of the season, sending a two-run blast to right center against VCU (Mar. 13) ... His round-tripper against the Rams was the 31st of his career, which ranks 10th among the NCAA Career Active leaders and is 13th on the Pirates all-time charts ... On the season he batting .255 (13-for-51) with three doubles, nine RBI and seven runs scored ... Currently he is batting .357 (5-for-14) during his four-game hit streak with seven RBI, four runs and a pair of walks.
? Corey Thompson is currently rated as the seventh-best third baseman in Perfect Game's most recent College Power Rankings ... The senior from Apex, N.C. is batting a team second-best .367 (18-for-49) with two home runs, 12 RBI and 10 runs scored ... He has recorded at least one hit in 11 of 14 games played with a team-best with a team-high five multi-hit and four multi-RBI games.
? Sophomore Tanner Merritt had his worst outing of his career in midweek action against VCU allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits without recording an out ... However, the Greenville, N.C. product boasts a 1.80 ERA in 10 outings with a three saves and owns a 1-1 record ... During the DRASH Alabama Classic, he worked 1.1 shutout innings on the weekend in a pair of relief appearances ... Merritt 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.
? 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 College transfer Andy Smithmyer has been sensational out of the bullpen for the Pirates allowing three runs (one earned) in 12.2 innings and sports a 0.71 ERA in five outings ... He has recorded a bullpen-best 12 strikeouts while walking just three ... Against VCU he entered the game with runners on first and second an one out retiring the Rams next two batters to get out of the second inning jam ... He would go on to work 3.2 innings of relief allowing one runs (unearned) on one hit with a pair of punch outs ... At the DRASH Alabama Baseball Classic, 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.
? Senior Tim Younger ranks second on the team in hitting (.349/15-for-43) and leads the club with a .492 on-base percentage, which also ranks fifth in C-USA ... The Clearwater, Fla. native, who was named the ninth recipient of ECU's honorary No. 23 jersey, is slugging .372 to go along with his six RBI, eight runs and eight walks... In the field he sports a .988 fielding percentage recording 37 putouts and 46 assists, while turning eight double plays.
SCOUTING PENN STATE (Courtesy of gopsusports.com)
? Penn State Baseball (3-11) will close out a 17-game road schedule to open the season with a three-game series at East Carolina this weekend. The Nittany Lions are coming off a tough 2-6 spring break trip, where they earned victories over Samford and UAB.
? Sophomore Joe Kurrasch (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.), junior John Walter (Haddonfield, N.J.) and junior Steven Hill (Colleyville, Texas) will start on the mound for the Nittany Lions this weekend. Kurrasch will be making his first career start in a Penn State uniform.
? In Penn State's 6-5 victory over UAB this past Sunday to snap its six-game losing streak, senior Jordan Steranka (Pittsburgh, Pa.) hit an RBI single in the top of the ninth inning to put the Nittany Lions in line to pick up the win. The Pittsburgh native also hit a two-run homer in the game.
? Freshman Casey Kulina (Hummelstown, Pa.) entered the game in the ninth inning and got in a bases loaded jam with nobody out. The freshman turned in a gutsy performance and struck out the side to pick up the save. Hill had arguably the best start for a Nittany Lion starter this season, as he went 7.2 innings, giving up three earned runs. Hill fanned three batters and did not walk anybody. Sophomore Greg Welsh (Holland, Pa.) came in to relieve Hill and picked up the win.
? Steranka has been swinging a very hot bat as of late. Over the last five games, he is hitting .429 with a homerun, four RBI and three doubles. He is slugging at a .714 clip over the span and has sported a 1.143 OPS. Steranka leads the team with a .356 overall batting average and is also tied for the team lead in home runs and doubles.
? Lately, the freshmen have stepped up into big roles for Penn State. Along with Kulina, Aaron Novak (Ambler, Pa.) has started the last two games in right field for the Nittany Lions. On March 10 against UAB, Novak blasted a homer over the leftfield fence for his first career-hit as a Penn Stater. Novak recorded two hits in that game, which earned him a start the next day. In Penn State's win on March 11, Novak hit two singles and drove in a run to help the Lions pick up a big win over the Blazers. In addition, catcher JC Coban (Boca Raton, Fla.) has started the last four games at catcher for the Nittany Lions and earned his first career RBI over Spring Break.
