ECU Eyes Terry Sisisky Classic Title And 35th Win
May 18, 2012 | Baseball
May 19, 2012
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| East Carolina vs. VCU May 19, 2012 | 2 p.m. (ET) Richmond, Va. RADIO: WNCT 1070 AM |
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RECENT NEWS
Younger Finalist For Fans Choice Award l Reynolds Named To Olerud Watch List
SERIES HISTORY
? This afternoon the Pirates will close out their 2012 season against VCU in the final game of the Terry Sisisky Classic at 2 p.m. (ET) ... The meeting will be the 57th between the two former Colonial Athletic Association foes with ECU holding a 31-25 advantage ... Saturday's meeting will also mark the second of the season where VCU topped the Pirates 18-11 in Greenville on March 13.
TERRY SISISKY TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday: ECU 14, VMI 8 (Final)
Friday: VMI 7, VCU 6 (Final)
Saturday: East Carolina vs. VCU
PROBABLE STARTERS
Saturday: RHP Jharel Cotton (8-0, 3.12 ERA) vs. LHP Heath Dwyer (3-3, 4.66 ERA)
THINGS TO KNOW
? Following Friday's action in Conference USA play, the Pirates dropped back down to sixth place following wins by Memphis and Southern Miss ... In order for the ECU to finish fourth, they would need both Southern Miss and Memphis to get beat today ... As of right now, Rice and UCF will play a winner-take-all game three to decide the regular season crown ... Tulane secured the No. 3 seed in the C-USA Baseball Championships with a 6-5 win in 11 frames over Marshall ... Southern Miss, who trailed 5-1 in the eighth innings, scored 10 runs in the final two frames to even the series with UAB, 11-6 ... Memphis also won in extra innings (8-7/11 inn.) ... UAB (No. 7) and Houston (No. 8) round out the 2012 C-USA Championship field ... ECU closed out its 2012 C-USA schedule at Southern Miss a week ago dropping all three games at Southern Miss to end with a 13-10-1 record ... ECU owns a 7-3 ledger in their last 10 games.
? With a win today, ECU will claim the 2012 Terry Sisisky Classic title having posted a 2-0 record in the three-team tournament ... A victory will also give the Pirates 35 wins on the season, marking the fifth time in head coach Billy Godwin's seven-year tenure that he reached that plateau ... ECU Hall of Fame coach Gary Overton is the only other Pirate skipper to record five 35-plus win seasons.
? Sophomore Jeff Hoffman will make his eighth start of the season when he toes the rubber this afternoon against the Keydets ... Named C-USA Pitcher-of-the-Week (4/16) ... Tossed career-high eight shutout innings with a career-best 10 strikeouts in last outing at Elon (4/10) ... Had 20.2 scoreless inning streak snapped against UNC Wilmington (4/17) ... Last start was vs. Southern Miss (5/12), his first in C-USA action, where he allowed two runs (both earned) on 3 hits with five strikeouts in six full innings ... Tossed 7.0 shutout innings with five punch outs at No. 10 UNC (4/25) ... Picked up first collegiate win at UNC Wilmington (4/3) tossing 6.1 shutout innings allowing five hits with two walks and a struck out a career-best seven batters ... Second career win came in relief against Marshall (5/6) ... In 58.1 innings, he has allowed 17 runs (15 earned) on 43 hits with 44 strikeouts and 12 walks ... Suffered lone loss against UNCW (4/17) allowing 6 runs (all earned) on 8 hits in 4.2 inning with 6 strikeouts ... Made first collegiate start against No. 11 N.C. State (3/20) working 5.0 innings surrendering 4 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits with a pair of strikeouts ... Second career start was at No. 9 N.C. State (3/28) where he tossed 6.2 innings allowing 3 runs (all earned) on 6 hits with pair of punch outs ... Collegiate debut came against Milwaukee (2/18) tossing a scoreless inning of relief ... Recorded first save against No. 16 Louisville (3/11) tossing four perfect innings with a punch out on 38 pitches ... Also had scoreless outings against Purdue, Penn State and No. 19 UCF ... Allowed 5 runs (3 earned) in nine relief appearances.
? Junior Jharel Cotton is scheduled to return to the diamond Saturday and will make his 13th start of the season against VCU ... The right-hander leads the team and C-USA in wins (8) while ranking 26th nationally ... In 12 starts he has allowed 27 Rs (23 ERs) in 66.1 innings ... In C-USA action (all games) ranks ninth in strikeouts (59) ... Fanned a career-best 12 batters vs. Tulane (4/29) ... Struck out 11 at No. 19 UCF (3/25) ... Picked up wins against Milwaukee, Stony Brook, No. 16 Louisville, Penn State, No. 19 UCF, Memphis, No. 7 Rice and Tulane ... Tied for second on the team with six quality starts ... High school teammate of Austin Chrismon (Menchville HS) that won the 2009 National Championship (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game) ... Junior College transfer from Miami Dade.
? Senior Zach Wright belted his 35th career home run in the home finale against High Point (5/15) and moved into a tie for seventh place on the school's all-time list with Lee Delfino (1999-01), Steve Salargo (1996-99) and Ryan Wood (2006-09) ... On the season he is batting .293 with five homers, 11 doubles, 36 RBI and 35 runs scored.
? Sophomore Drew Reynolds (hitter) and Cotton (pitcher) took home the 2012 Jungle MVP awards earlier this week for their play during the 2012 season ... Reynolds, a John Olerud Two-Way Watch List candidate, leads the team in hitting with a .322 average (61-for-184) with a pair of home runs, seven doubles, 22 RBI and 27 runs scored ... On the mound he owns a 3-0 record with 10 saves and a 2.82 ERA in 19 games ... He has allowed 11 runs (seven earned) in 22.1 innings with 19 strikeouts.
NATIONAL POLLS
The Pirates dropped out of the polls following their 1-3 week ... Currently they are receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writer Association (NCBWA), Perfect Game and USA Today/ESPN polls.
RPI REPORT
In the latest RPI reports (May 17), the Pirates have the third-best RPI in Conference USA ranking 24th by WarrenNolan.com and 25th by BoydsWorld.com ... In the NCAA's most recent RPI report that was released on May 14, 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 513-242-1 record ... He ranks second all-time on ECU's wins list (251) 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)
