ECU Battles No. 20 Louisville In DRASH Alabama Baseball Classic
March 09, 2012 | Baseball
March 10, 2012
 vs.  |
| No. 29 East Carolina vs. No. 20 Louisville Mar. 11, 2012 | 11 a.m. EST Tuscaloosa, Ala. RADIO: WNCT 1070 AM |
 Watch |  Live Stats |  ECU Notes | Louisville Notes | C-USA Notes |  Tickets |  Gameday Central | Live Chat |
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DRASH Tournament Schedule
Friday, March 9
No. 20 Louisville 7, Oral Roberts 3 (Final)
No. 29 East Carolina 3, Alabama 1 (Final)
Saturday, March 10
No. 29 East Carolina 4, Oral Roberts 2 (Final)
Alabama 7, No. 20 Louisville 6 (Final)
Sunday, March 11
No. 29 East Carolina vs. No. 16 Louisville (11 a.m./ EST)
Oral Roberts at Alabama (3:05 p.m./ EST)
SERIES HISTORY
? Today's game will be the 14th in the series with the Pirates holding a 10-3 advantage ... The last time the two former Conference USA foes squared off came back on Apr. 17, 2005 with ECU claiming an 11-6 victory in Louisville, Ky.
THINGS TO KNOW
? East Carolina junior Jharel Cotton will take the mound in the final game of the DRASH Alabama Baseball Classic ... The St. Thomas, V.I. native is 2-0 on the season with a 1.10 ERA where he has allowed three runs (two earned) in 16.1 innings ... He has recorded 10 strikeouts to just two walks ... Cotton picked up wins against Milwaukee and Stony Brook tossing 6.0 innings in each outing ... Heading into this weeks action he ranked among the league leaders in ERA (1.10/9th), innings pitched (16.1/t10th), earned runs (2/t6th), walks allowed (2/t2nd) and runs allowed (3/t7th).
? Following the NCAA's initial national rankings summary (March 4), the Pirates pitching staff entered this week's play with the second-lowest ERA (1.20) in the country trailing only Maryland (0.95) ... But a rough outing at Troy earlier this week dropped the Pirates team ERA to 1.84, which is still ranks among the Top 10 nationally ... The staff has recorded 73 strikeouts to 30 walks in 98.0 innings ... In 110 games, the Pirates have allowed 29 runs (20 earned), tossed a pair of shutouts and are holding opposing hitters to a composite .201 batting average ... The bullpen has a posted a 0.93 ERA with six saves in 38.2 innings giving up seven runs (four earned) on 22 hits with 34 strikeouts and 17 walks.
? According to WarrenNolan.com the Pirates rank 12th in the nation in defensive runs per game (2.6 ppg) ... Offensively ECU is scoring 4.8 runs per game for a plus-2.2 margin.
? Senior Zach Wright was recently 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) ... This season Wright is batting .216 (8-for-37) with two doubles, two RBI and three runs scored.
? 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 .400 (16-for-40) with two home runs, two doubles, nine RBI and eight runs scored.
? While the Pirate offense is batting .275 on the season through 11 games, they have already hit nine home runs (0.81 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 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 leads the Pirates in hitting (.419/13-for-31) and on-base percentage (.526), both of which rank among the league leaders in Conference USA ... The Clearwater, Fla. native, who was named the ninth recipient of ECU's honorary No. 23 jersey, is slugging .452 to go along with his six RBI, seven runs and six walks... In the field he sports a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage recording 32 putouts and 33 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.
? 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 .273 (12-for-44) with six RBI and five runs scored.
