East Carolina Baseball Notebook (Weekly Recap)
April 02, 2012 | Baseball
April 2, 2012
East Carolina Pirates (19-8, 4-2 C-USA)
Last Week's National Rankings: No. 30 (Perfect Game);
Receiving Votes (USA Today/Coaches and NCBWA)
Current Streak: W-3
Last Week: 3-1
Mar. 28 - Loss at No. 9 N.C. State, 4-3 (11 inn.)
Mar. 30 - Win vs. UAB, 11-6
Mar. 31 - Win vs. UAB, 12-2
Apr. 1 - Win vs. UAB, 6-5 (13 inn.)
Upcoming Week
Road at UNC Wilmington (Apr. 3)
Home vs. Houston (Apr. 5-7)
Pirate Hitter-of-the-Week
Drew Reynolds, Sophomore, INF/RHP
Reynolds batted .438 (7-for-16) on the week and helped the Pirates to a C-USA home series sweep over UAB ... On the week he extended his current hit streak to six games and has registered at least one hit in 15 of his last 16 games (19 of 21 on the season) ... Reynolds led the club in hits (7), RBI (6), hit by pitches (3) and on-base percentage (.550), while sharing the team lead in runs scored (50 and ranking second in home runs (1) and slugging percentage (.688) ... He also recorded a pair of multi-hit games ... Against instate rival and No. 9 N.C. State, he was 1-for-3 with an RBI single in the Pirates three-run fourth inning ... In the C-USA series opener against UAB, he reached base three times going 2-for-4 with an RBI, run scored and was hit by a pitch ... On Saturday he collected a career-best four RBI going 1-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and reaching base three times (FC, HBP, HR) ... He drove in the Pirates second run of the game on a fielder's choice RBI that scored Tim Younger ... In the eighth frame he belted his second home run of the season, a three-run shot to right field for the final three runs of the game ... Reynolds registered his ninth multi-hit game of the season in the series finally collecting three hits (tying career-high) and scoring a pair of runs ... He singled in the first, doubled and scored in the fourth, singled in the eighth and in the 13th frame reached after being hit for the third-straight game to start the inning and later scored the game-winning run ... On the mound, Reynolds appeared in a pair of games tossing 4 1/3 scoreless innings allowing two hits and striking out six ... Against No. 9 N.C. State, he allowed one hit and recorded one out in the Pirates 4-3 loss in 11 innings .. In the series finale against UAB, he tossed a career-best four innings with a career-best six strikeouts facing two over the minimum (14 batters) and picking up his second win of the season ... Reynolds fanned two batters in each of the 11th, 12th and 13th frames ... This season Reynolds is batting a team-best .392 (29-for-74) with two home runs, six doubles, 13 RBI, nine runs and has reached base five times via hit by pitch ... He currently leads the team in slugging (.554) and on-base percentage (.451) ... As a hurler, he is 2-0 on the season with a 3.07 ERA ... In 13 outings he has a team and C-USA best seven saves and has combined on two shutouts ... Reynolds has allowed seven runs (five earned) on 11 hits and has fanned 15, while walking five in 14.2 innings ... Opponents are batting a composite .212 against him.
Pirate Pitcher-of-the-Week
Tyler Joyner, Junior, LHP
Joyner picked up his fourth win of the season (first in C-USA action) against the Blazers on Saturday tossing his first career complete game ... The southpaw scattered four hits over the contest allowing two runs (one earned) and struck out a career-best eight batters ... He faced four of the minimum on 101 pitches ... The Rocky Mount, N.C. native induced seven fly outs, 11 ground outs and all four Blazer hits were singles ... Of his eight punch outs, six were swinging ... He retired the side in order in seven of nine frames facing four batters in the fourth and five in the sixth ... On the season, he has allowed 14 runs (13 earned) on 36 hits with 33 strikeouts to just eight walks in 44.0 innings ... In six of his seven starts, Joyner has registered four quality starts (6.0-plus IP, 3 or less runs), which is tied with classmate Jharel Cotton for second on the team behind Kevin Brandt's team-leading five ... He is holding opposing hitters to a .224 composite batting average.
PIRATENOTES
With its win on Sunday, ECU extended its current home winning streak to seven games ... The win also marked the fifth come from behind victory when trailing after six innings and it was the seventh one-run victory of the season ... The sweep of the Blazers was the fifth weekend series sweep of the season (Milwaukee, Stony Brook, Alabama Classic and Penn State) ... Sunday's victory was the 13th-straight at home for the Pirates against the Blazers dating back to May 11, 2003.
ECU's pitching staff posted a 3.02 ERA allowing 17 runs (14 earned) on 37 hits with 31 strikeouts during its 3-1 week ... On the season as a whole, they sport a 3.33 ERA in 245.2 innings with 192 strikeouts and 82 walks ... In 27 games, ECU has allowed 117 runs (91 earned) and are holding opposing hitters to a composite .246 average ... The bullpen has allowed 43 runs (30 earned0 on 79 hits in 100.1 innings with a 2.89 ERA.
Junior Jay Cannon batted a team-best .462 (6-for-13) with two doubles and four runs scored ... Prior to leaving Sunday's game after fouling a ball off his knee in the second inning, Cannon was riding a five-game hit streak where he was batting .500 (10-for-20) with two doubles and five runs ... He currently leads the team with a .474 average (9-for-19) in league action with a pair of RBI, two doubles and five runs ... On the season he has boasted his average to .342 (27-for-79), which ranks second on the team behind Reynolds.
John Wooten belted a pair of home runs on the week and batted .300 (6-for-20) with five RBI, two doubles and four runs scored ... The junior INF/OF had his 12-game hit streak snapped after an 0-for-5 performance on Saturday, but rebounded with a pair of hits in the series finale ... During his hit streak he batted .389 (21-for-54) with two home runs, two doubles, seven RBI and 14 runs scored ... He also recorded seven of his team-leading 10 multi-hit games during the streak ... On the season, he is batting .314 (33-for-105) with a team-best five home runs and 23 runs scored, while sharing the team lead in hits (33) and walks (13) with Corey Thompson and ranking fourth with 15 RBI.
Freshman Dylan Dickens recorded his first collegiate win on Friday night tossing four scoreless frames in relief ... The right-hander allowed three hits and struck out a career-best two batters ... In three appearances out of the bullpen, he sports a 0.00 ERA in five innings of work.
Redshirt sophomore Tanner Merritt made two appearances on the week in relief working 4 1/3 perfect frames with six punch outs ... He posted his fourth save in the series opener against UAB striking out three in 1 2/3 innings .. In the finale, he fanned three more in 2 2/3 frames ... He has appeared in three league games allowing three runs (all earned) on three hits in 7 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts with a 3.52 ERA ... Merritt has appeared in 13 games posting a 2-2 record with a 2.45 ERA and 19 strikeouts to three walks.
Senior Corey Thompson is currently riding a six-game hitting streak where he is batting .300 (9-for-30) with a home run, double six RBI, three runs and two multi-hit and multi-RBI games ... Currently he is batting .327 (33-for-101) with four home runs, five doubles, 13 walks, 22 RBI, 19 runs, nine multi-hit and seven multi-RBI contest - all ranking among the team leaders.
Zach Wright has reached base safely in 15-straight games dating back to March 9 versus Alabama ... During this streak he is batting .291 (16-for-55) with a home run, four doubles, eight walks, one hit by pitch, 15 RBI and 15 runs ... On the year he is batting .261 (24-for-92) with a home run, six doubles, 17 RBI, 18 runs and five multi-hit and multi-run games.
Head Coach Billy Godwin recorded his 498th career and 236th Pirate win on Sunday against UAB ... He ranks second all-time on ECU's wins list and trails only ECU Hall of Famer Gary Overton (427).
