Baseball Hits The Road For Midweek Clash With Troy
March 07, 2012 | Baseball
March 7, 2012
 vs.  |
| East Carolina vs. Troy Mar. 7, 2012 | 7 p.m. ET Troy, Ala. RADIO: WNCT 1070 AM |
 Watch |  Live Stats |  ECU Notes | Troy Notes | C-USA Notes |  Tickets |  Gameday Central | Live Chat |
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SERIES HISTORY
? Tonight's meeting will be the first between the two schools on the diamond.
THINGS TO KNOW
? East Carolina sophomore Austin Chrismon (RHP) will make his fourth career start ... This season he has made one appearance getting the start against Milwaukee (Feb. 18) in game one of the double header ... In that outing he allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits in 3.1 innings ... Chrismon tied his career-high in strikeouts fanning four batters ... For his career he is 1-0 with a 2.05 ERA in 11 appearances, where he has allowed nine runs (five earned) in 22.0 innings of work with 15 strikeouts and eight walks.
? The Pirates are 4-4-1 all-time against members of the Sun Belt Conference, last playing Louisiana-Lafayette in 2009 where they swept the home series.
? ECU's pitching staff comes into tonight's game with the second-lowest ERA (1.20) in the country trailing only Maryland (0.95) ... The staff has recorded 65 strikeouts to just 22 walks in 90.0 innings ... In 10 games, the Pirates have allowed 21 runs (12 earned), tossed two shutouts and are holding opposing hitters to a composite .201 batting average ... The bullpen has been remarkable so far this season surrendering just four runs (one earned) on 19 hits in 32.1 innings boasting an outstanding 0.28 ERA.
? According to WarrenNolan.com the Pirates rank third in the nation in defensive runs per game (2.1 ppg) ... Offensively ECU is scoring 5.1 runs per game for a plus-3.0 margin.
? 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 .417 (15-for-36) with two home runs, two doubles, nine RBI and seven runs scored.
? While the Pirate offense is batting .291 on the season through 10 games, they have already hit nine home runs (0.90 per game/ 32nd nationally) 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 Pirates moved up one spot to No. 29 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 still leads the Pirates in hitting (.444/12-for-27) and on-base percentage (.559), both of which rank in the top-two of Conference USA ... The Clearwater, Fla. native, who was named the ninth recipient of ECU's honorary No. 23 jersey, is slugging .481 to go along with his six RBI, six runs and six walks... In the field he sports a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage recording 30 putouts and 30 assists, while turning seven double plays.
? Sophomore INF/RHP Drew Reynolds picked up a pair of saves last weekend and now has five on the season, which ranks second in the country ... On the season he is a perfect 5-for-5 in save opportunities and leads Conference USA in saves and games finished ... In six outings this season, he boasts a 0.00 ERA with six strikeouts and two walks in 5.0 innings.
? Junior John Wooten ranks fourth on the team with a .294 average (10-for-34) entering this weeks play ... Even though his 11-game hit streak ended against Purdue, he still has recorded at least one hit in 14 of his last 16 games dating back to the start of the 2011 Conference USA Championships ... 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 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 .293 (12-for-41) with six RBI and five runs scored.
