No. 27 ECU Eyes Second-Straight C-USA Sweep
April 05, 2012 | Baseball
April 5, 2012
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| No. 27 East Carolina vs. Houston Apr. 5-7 2012 | 6 p.m./ 6 p.m./ 10 a.m. (EST) Greenville, N.C. RADIO: WNCT 1070 AM |
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Week Seven Recap l Joyner Named C-USA Pitcher-of-the-Week l Little League Clinic (Saturday, Apr. 7)
SERIES HISTORY
? Tonight's game will mark the 38th meeting between the two schools that dates back to 2002 ... The Pirates hold a 20-17 overall record and claimed a 2-1 series win last year in Houston ... In the last meeting between the two schools, Houston defeated ECU 8-5 in the 2011 C-USA Championships in Pearl, Miss. ... ECU has won two of the last three series (both in Houston, 2009 & 2011), while holding a slim 5-4 advantage in the last nine meetings.
PROBABLE STARTERS/ WEEKEND RESULTS
Thursday:ECU 10, Houston 3 (Final)
Friday:ECU 16, Houston 1 (Final/7 inn.)
Saturday: RHP Austin Pruitt (2-2, 2.16 ERA) vs. RHP Jharel Cotton (5-0, 2.89 ERA)
THINGS TO KNOW
? Sophomore Drew Reynolds and senior Corey Thompson both enter this weekend's series on a seven-game hitting streak after each collected a pair of hits at UNC Wilmington (4/3) in midweek action ... Reynolds has recorded a hit in 16 of his last 17 games and currently leads the Pirates with a .397 batting average, which also ranks third in Conference USA ... Thompson, who leads the team in hits (35) and RBI (22), while batting .330 on the season ranking fourth among the Pirates.
? Junior John Wooten has belted three home runs in C-USA action thus far and leads the squad with five round-trippers ... Wooten had his 12-game hitting streak snapped against the Blazers on Saturday after an 0-for-5 performance at the dish, but rebounded with a pair of hits in the series finale ... He has recorded at least one hit in 13 of his last 15 games ... Currently he is batting .303 on the season with a team-best 24 runs.
? Redshirt sophomore Tanner Merritt picked up his fifth save of the season at UNC Wilmington (4/3) after working 1 2/3 scoreless innings ... In his last three outings he has tossed 6.0 no-hit frames with six strikeouts ... Merritt has appeared in 14 games posting a 2-2 record with a 2.25 ERA and 19 strikeouts to four walks.
? Junior Jay Cannon drove in three of ECU's five runs at UNC Wilmington on Tuesday ... In the third inning he laced a two-RBI single (game-winner) and in the ninth was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded ... Currently he is tied for second on the team with a .327 average (28-for-83) with two home runs, 13 RVI, five doubles and 18 runs scored.
? 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 four appearances out of the bullpen, he sports a 0.00 ERA in 5 2/3 innings of work.
? Junior Jharel Cotton will look to improve to 6-0 on the season when he takes the hill Saturday morning against Houston ... The St. Thomas, V.I. native is coming off his worst outing of the season against UAB working 2.0 innings, where he allowed three runs on six hits with one strikeout ... Cotton is 5-0 with a 2.89 ERA in seven games .... He has fanned 31 batters and walked 10 in 37.1 innings.
? Zach Wright has reached base safely in 16-straight games dating back to March 9 versus Alabama ... During this streak he is batting .305 (18-for-59) with a home run, five doubles, nine walks, one hit by pitch, 16 RBI and 15 runs ... On the year he is batting .271 (26-for-96) with a home run, seven doubles, 18 RBI, 18 runs and six multi-hit and five multi-run games.
? Heading into this weeks action, the Pirates are ranked No. 27 by Perfect Game and are receiving votes in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) polls.
? In the latest RPI reports, the Pirates have the second-best RPI in Conference USA ranking 12th by WarrenNolan.com and 16th by BoydsWorld.com ... ECU trails only Rice, who is ranked 14th and 15th by both sites.
? Head Coach Billy Godwin collected his 500th career victory during the series opener against Houston (4/5/12) ... Currently he owns a 500-231 overall record and has a 238-146 ledger as the Pirates' skipper, ranking behind former coach and ECU Hall of Famer Dr. Gary Overton (427) in the win column.
