Baseball Looks To Salvage Series Against No. 7 Rice
April 20, 2012 | Baseball
April 20, 2012
 vs.  |
| No. 24 East Carolina at No. 7 Rice Apr. 20-22, 2012 | 9:15/ 3/ Noon p.m. (EST) Houston, Texas RADIO: WNCT 1070 AM |
 Watch |  Live Stats |  ECU Notes | Rice Notes | C-USA Notes |  Tickets |  Gameday Central | Live Chat |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
RECENT NEWS
Week Nine Recap l Hoffman Named C-USA Pitcher-of-the-Week l Timmy Baseball feature l Merritt Named To Stopper List
SERIES HISTORY
? Today's game will mark the 24th meeting between the two nationally-ranked teams with Rice holding a commanding 19-4 all-time advantage ... ECU snapped a seven-game loosing skid against the Owls last year picking up a win (7-3) in Greenville in the series finale on Apr. 10, 2011 ... Senior Kevin Brandt recorded the win a year ago tossing second of his three career complete games (9.0 IP, 7 H, 3 Rs, 2 ERs, BB, 6 Ks) ... ECU last won at Rice back on Mar. 24, 2006 (4-3) - a span of eight games - when the Pirates handed the Owls its first ever loss in Conference USA action.
PROBABLE STARTERS/RESULTS
Friday: No. 7 Rice 2, No. 24 ECU 0 (Final)
Saturday: No. 7 Rice, 6, No. 24 ECU 2 (Final)
Sunday: RHP Jharel Cotton (6-0, 3.35 ERA) vs. RHP Andrew Benak (5-1, 2.56 ERA)
THINGS TO KNOW
? When the two teams square off today, the nation will see two of the Top 25 teams with the best winning percentages in college baseball since 1999. Rice owns the top winning percentage (.742), while ECU comes in at No. 18 (.657) ... For the complete Top 25 list, see below ... Junior Jharel Cotton will take the mound against the Owls looking to salvage a game in the series ... The right-hander from St. Thomas, V.I. will seek his league-leading seventh win.
? Sophomore Drew Reynolds has been on fire of late recording a pair of three-hit games during ECU's midweek action (6-for-10 with two RBI) against UNC Wilmington and William & Mary ... Currently he leads the club with a .367 average (44-for-120) with a pair of homers, six doubles, 17 RBI and 17 runs scored.
? Redshirt sophomore Tanner Merritt, who was named to the 2012 NCBWA Stopper-of-the-Year Watch List earlier this week, picked up a pair of saves last weekend at Memphis to push his season total to seven, which is tied for the team lead with Reynolds and ranks second in league action (all games) ... He worked 6.0 innings in three outings allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits with three strikeouts ... Heading into the series finale at Memphis, he had tossed 12.0 consecutive scoreless innings out of the bullpen dating back to Mar. 30 against UAB before giving up a pair a two-out run in the seventh inning in the series finale at Memphis ... He has appeared in a team-high 18 games posting a 2-2 record to go along with his seven saves ... Merritt boasts a 1.67 ERA with 23 strikeouts and has allowed nine runs (six earned) on 24 hits in 32.1 innings.
? Sophomore Jack Reinheimer had his eight-game hitting streak snapped against UNC Wilmington in midweek action going 0-for-3, but the Charlotte, N.C. native rebounded with a three-hit performance and scored three runs against William & Mary ... Last week he batted a team-best .476 (10-for-21) where he led the Pirates in hits (10), RBI (8) and multi-hit games (4).
? Zach Wright continued his hot hitting last week batting a team second-best .471 (8-for-17) with a home run, double, two RBI and six runs scored ... He also drew three walks and was hit three times reaching base a total of 13 times on the week ... In mid week action, he did not record an official at-bat against UNC Wilmington after walking and being hit by a pitch, where he left the game late and sat out against William & Mary ... On the year he has raised his average to .304 (38-for-125) ... Currently he is tied for the team lead in doubles (8), while ranking second in RBI (26), runs (27) and walks (16).
? John Wooten belted his team leading seventh home run (fourth in C-USA) in the series finale at Memphis sending a three-run shot over the left field wall ... During the finale, he drove in a career-best five runs and collected four hits (tying career-best performance) ... On the season he is batting .322 (47-for-146) with 24 RBI and a team-best 32 runs ... He has also added 13 multi-hit and five multi-RBI contests.
NATIONAL POLLS
Heading into this weeks action, the Pirates are ranked No. 24 by Perfect Game and No. 29 by National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association ... They are also receiving votes in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll sitting at No. 32.
RPI RANKINGS
In the latest RPI reports (Apr. 19), the Pirates have the third-best RPI in Conference USA ranking 25th by bothWarrenNolan.com and BoydsWorld.com ... In the NCAA's most recent RPI report that was released on April 17th, the Pirates came in at No. 25.
GODWIN GETS No. 500
Head Coach Billy Godwin recorded his 500th career win in the series opener against Houston on April 5 in ECU's 10-3 victory ... For his career, Godwin owns a 505-236-1 record ... He ranks second all-time on ECU's wins list (242) and trails only ECU Hall of Famer Gary Overton (427).
NATIONS TOP WIN PERCENTAGES FROM 1999-2011
Using the 1999 season as the starting point (the year the NCAA expanded the postseason tournament field to 64 teams with the current Super Regional format), ECU has ranks as one of the top teams in the nation in win percentage. Here's a closer look at the country's winningest programs from 1999 to 2011: (This list does not include any 2012 results; ECU 2012 opponents are bold.)
Team, Wins-Loses-Ties (Pct.)
1. Rice, 635-221-0 (.742)
2. Florida State, 651-227-1 (.741)
3. Oral Roberts, 561-224-0 (.715)
4. Texas, 614-247-1 (.713)
5. Coastal Carolina, 573-234-0 (.710)
6. North Carolina, 589-246-1 (.705)
7. Cal State Fullerton, 579-244-0 (.704)
8. Arizona State, 531-224-1 (.703)
9. South Carolina, 612-261-0 (.701)
10. Miami, 565-246-3 (.696)
11. Wichita State, 598-276-0 (.684)
12. Georgia Tech, 551-255-1 (.683)
13. LSU, 558-276-5 (.668)
14. Clemson, 566-288-1 (.663)
15. Nebraska, 527-268-2 (.662)
16. Tulane, 532-275-2 (.659)
17. Stanford, 527-274-2 (.658)
18. East Carolina, 519-271-0 (.657)
19. Notre Dame, 511-271-5 (.652)
20. Coll. of Charleston, 487-279-0 (.636)
21. Florida, 517-300-2 (.632)
22. TCU, 498-290-0 (.632)
23. Southern Miss, 503-296-0 (.630)
24. Alabama, 508-300-0 (.629)
25. Virginia, 498-294-2 (.628)
