East Carolina Baseball Notebook (Weekly Recap)
April 09, 2012 | Baseball
April 9, 2012
East Carolina Pirates (22-8-1, 6-2-1 C-USA)
Last Week's National Rankings: No. 27 (Perfect Game);
Receiving Votes (USA Today/Coaches and NCBWA)
Current Streak: T-1
Last Week: 3-0-1
Apr. 3 - Win at UNC Wilmington, 5-0
Apr. 5 - Win vs. Houston, 10-3
Apr. 6 - Win vs. Houston, 16-1 (7 inn.)
Apr. 7 - Tie vs. Houston, 4-4 (12 inn.)
Upcoming Week
Road at Elon (Apr. 10)
Home vs. Old Dominion (Apr. 11)
Road at Memphis (Apr. 13-15)
Pirate Hitter-of-the-Week
Tim Younger, Senior, 2B
Younger batted a team-best .500 (9-for-18) on the week and helped the Pirates to their second-straight C-USA series win over Houston ... He recorded multiple hits in all four games and scored a run in all three C-USA contests ... Against instate rival UNC Wilmington (Apr. 3) he was 2-for-4 (both singles) and reached base three times (HBP) ... In the series opener against Houston he was 2-fof-4 with a pair of RBI, a run scored and reach base four times (2 singles, walk, FC) ... Younger followed that with his third-straight multi-hit performance going 2-for-4 with a pair of runs and a walk ... In the series finale he tied his career-high with three hits (2 singles, double) and scored a pair of runs ... On the season he is batting a team second-best .359 (37-for-103) with five doubles, 18 RBI and 22 runs scored ... He has collected a career-best 11 multi-hit and five multi-RBI contests ... His .359 average also ranks seventh in league action (all games) ... Younger improved in average in C-USA games to .429 (15-for-35) and has three doubles, 11 RBI and scored 11 runs.
Pirate Pitcher-of-the-Week
Kevin Brandt, Senior, LHP
Brandt picked up his fourth win of the season against Houston in the series opener setting the tone for Pirates second-straight C-USA series win ... The southpaw pitched his best game of the season allowing just four hits and a walk, while striking out six ... He allowed two runners to reach scoring position and just one to advance as far as third base ... Brandt didn't allow more than one base runner in any inning, and retired the side in order in the fourth, fifth and six frames ... His only walk was a two-out free pass in the top of the third ... Brandt lowered his ERA to 1.98 ... After allowing a two-out single in the first and a leadoff single in the second, Brandt settled in and halted Houston's offense by retiring 16 of the next 17 batters he faced, including 11 in a row at one point before Cody Morehouse beat out a one-out infield single in the top of the seventh ... Brandt set down 17 of the last 19 batters before turning over the ball to DeShorn Lake in the ninth frame ... On the season he improved to 4-2 in eight starts (seven quality outings) ... In 54.2 innings, he has fanned a team-best 39 batters with 13 walks and has allowed 17 runs (12 earned) on 46 hits ... Opposing batters are hitting a composite .234 against him.
PIRATENOTES
Despite a 4-4 tie with Houston in the series finale, ECU recorded its second-straight C-USA series win of the 2012 season and is currently in second place a half game behind UCF ... The series win also marked the sixth weekend series win for the Pirates this season (Milwaukee, Stony Brook, Alabama, Penn State and UAB - all sweeps).
ECU's pitching staff posted an impressive 0.73 ERA on the week allowing eight runs (three earned) on 34 hits with 21 strikeouts during its 3-0-1 week ... On the season as a whole, the sport a 2.99 ERA in 282.2 innings with 213 strikeouts and 88 walks ... In 31 games, ECU has allowed 125 runs (94 earned) and are holding opposing hitters to a composite .246 average ... The bullpen has allowed 49 runs (31 earned) on 93 hits in 111.0 innings with a 2.51 ERA.
Junior Tyler Joyner tossed his second-straight complete game in the 16-1 series clincher against Houston on Friday ... In seven innings, the southpaw allowed one runs on six hits with five punch outs ... The Rocky Mount, N.C. native induced seven fly outs and nine ground outs and all six Cougar hits were singles ... Three of his five strikeouts were looking ... From the last out in the first to the first out of the fifth inning, he retired 11 of 12 batters with the lone runner reaching base due to an error ... On the season he improved to 5-0 in eight appearances (seven starts) and lowered his ERA to 2.47 ... In 51.0 innings he has recorded a team second-best 38 strikeouts to just eight walks - both ranking among the league leaders in all games ... He has allowed 15 runs (14 earned) on 42 hits and is holding opposing hitters to a .225 composite average.
John Wooten belted his team leading sixth home run on the weekend in Friday's 16-1 win over the Cougars ... The junior INF/OF was 4-for-4 on that day with three RBI and four runs scored and reached base all five times, including a walk in the sixth inning ... He batted .462 (6-for-13) on the week with five runs and three RBI and slugged a team-best .692 ... On the season he is batting .331 (39-for-118) with six round trippers, two doubles, a triple, 28 runs (team high) and 18 RBI ... He has also added a team-best 12 multi-hit games and four multi-RBI contests.
Senior Zach Wright drove in a team-best seven runs on the week and batted .375 (6-for-16) with a double, home run and three runs scored ... In the series finale, he failed to reach base going 0-for-5 at the dish and halting his 18-game streak of reaching base safely ... On Friday he drove in a season-high five RBI going 2-for-3 at the plate ... In the first frame he pushed across Corey Thompson on a sac fly and followed that with his second home run of the season, a two-run shot to right field ... He capped the evening with a two-RBI single up the middle during ECU's three-run sixth inning ... Wright has quietly raised his average to .278 (30-for-108) on the season and ranks second behind Thompson in RBI (24) and has scored 21 runs.
ECU's utility specialist Drew Reynolds scored a team-best six runs on the week and extended his current hitting streak to 10 games ... The sophomore DH/RHP has recorded at least one hit in 19 of his last 20 games (22 of 25 on the season) ... On the week he batted .278 (5-for-18) with three walks at the plate ... This season he leads the team with a .370 average (34-for-92) with six doubles, two home runs, 13 RBI and 15 runs scored ... On the mound he leads the club with seven saves (tied for first in league play) posting a 3.07 ERA in 13 appearances and a 2-0 ledger ... He has fanned 15 while walking five and has allowed seven runs (five earned) on 11 hits in 14.2 innings.
Senior Corey Thompson is currently riding a 10-game hitting streak where he is batting .300 (15-for-50) with a home run, three doubles, 10 RBI, eight runs, four multi-hit and three multi-RBI games ... Currently he is batting .322 (39-for-121) with four home runs, seven doubles (team best), 13 walks, 26 RBI (team best), 23 runs, 11 multi-hit and nine multi-RBI contest.
Head Coach Billy Godwin recorded his 500th career win in the series opener against Houston on Thursday night in ECU's 10-3 victory ... For his career, Godwin owns a 501-231-1 record ... He ranks second all-time on ECU's wins list (239) and trails only ECU Hall of Famer Gary Overton (427).
