Game Day Central: ECU Travels To UConn In Pivotal Series
April 17, 2015 | Baseball
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| East Carolina at UConn Apr. 17-19, 2015 | 3 p.m., 1 p.m., 12 Noon (ET) Storrs, Conn. RADIO: WNCT 1070 AM |
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THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAME (prior to series)
? East Carolina (22-15, 4-5 AAC) will travel to Storrs, Conn. for the first time in school history squaring off against UConn (24-13, 5-4 AAC) in an important three-game league series ... UConn is tied for second with Memphis in the league standings, while ECU is in a four-way tie for fourth with Cincinnati, Houston and UCF ... The Pirates have won three of their last five games heading into the weekend - all three on the road ... Over the last 10 games, ECU has posted a 5-5 ledger with three victories coming in league play (Tulane/2, USF/1) ... ECU's rotation will change this weekend with the injury to Reid Love at Old Dominion ...Evan Kruczynski will get the Friday night started followed by David Lucroy on Saturday ... Sunday's starter has not been announce by first-year head coach Cliff Godwin.
? The Huskies are winners of four of five after a series victory at nationally-ranked UCF last weekend before sweeping two midweek contests at Fairfield and Bryant ... UConn has out-scored those opponents 47-15 during the stretch, thanks in part to Vinny Siena batting .407 in 27 at-bats over the run ... The UConn pitching staff is currently 10th in the NCAA with a 2.69 ERA, tops in The American ... The Huskies weekend rotation is led by Carson Cross and reigning NCBWA National Pitcher-of-the-Week Anthony Kay in the Friday and Saturday starting slots, respectively ... Kay is fourth in the country with a 1.01 ERA and holds a 66:14 strikeout-to-walk ratio, while Cross comes in at fifth in the nation with 79 strikeouts and is top-20 nationally with a 1.44 ERA ... Jordan Tabakman rounds out the rotation with a 3.98 ERA and closer Patrick Ruotolo has 32 strikeouts in 16.1 innings along with a .153 batting average against.
PIRATE QUICK HITS
? Evan Kruczynski has won 5 of his 9 starts (two NDs) ... Tossed second career complete game in the AAC opener against Memphis allowing one run with six strikeouts ... Other was against Monmouth (2-Hit, SHO) ... Recorded five quality starts in eight appearances.
? David Lucroy owns a 2-2 record with a 1.62 ERA ... In nine starts, he has recorded 35 strikeouts to 18 walks in 44.1 innings ... Fanned season-high nine batters vs. Memphis ... Had shortest outings of the season vs. TUL and at USF going 2.2 innings in each contest.
? Reid Love earned American Pitcher-of-the-Week honors following is 4-hit CG SHO against Tulane (Apr. 2) ... On the season he is 3-3 with 4 saves in 15 appearances (4 starts) with a 3.02 ERA ... At the plate he is batting .316 with 3 HRs, 13 RBI, 18 runs scored.
? Luke Lowery leads the team in eight offensive categories ... Ranks among national leaders in HRs (43rd), slugging pct. (50th/.636) and on-base pct. (69th/.471) - as of Apr. 16th ... On Mar. 16th earned AAC Hitter, Collegiate Baseball and CollegeSportsMadess National Player and NCAA.com Player-of-the-Week honors.
? Travis Watkins was named to the initial Johnny Bench Award Watch List (Mar. 11) marking the third-straight season on the list ... AAC Honor Roll selection (Mar. 9) ... The redshirt-sophomore, who is batting .349 on the season, has recorded a team-best 13 multi-hit games and four multi-RBI contests.
? Bryce Harman is batting .293 on the season ... Tied for team lead in doubles (10), while leading the club in runs (27), HBPs (10) ... Hit a pair of solo home runs (consecutive ABs) vs. Tulane (4/2) and has 3 HRs on the year (10 career).
? Charlie Yorgen was named to the AAC Honor Roll (Apr. 2) ... Ranks third on the team with 23 runs and leads club with 20 walks in 37 games.
? ECU's starting pitching boasts a 2.70 ERA ... Allowed 94 runs (62 ERs) with 131 strikeouts to 44 walks in 206.1 innings.
? The bullpen has surrendered 50 runs (41 earned) in 122.2 innings posting a 3.01 ERA ... They have allowed 15 of 69 inherited runners to score (21.7 percent).
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday: LHP Evan Kruczynski (5-2, 2.31 ERA) vs. RHP Carson Cross (7-1, 1.44 ERA)
Saturday: RHP David Lucroy (202, 1.62 ERA) vs. LHP Anthony Kay (5-3, 1.01 ERA)
Sunday: TBA vs. RHP Jordan Tabakman (2-3, 3.98 ERA)
ECU'S HISTORY ON THE DIAMOND
? In its storied history, the Pirates won the 1961 NAIA National Championship, have claimed 23 conference titles (13 regular season/ 10 tournament), made 26 NCAA Regionals and advanced to three Super Regionals (2001, 2004 and 2009).
HEAD COACH Cliff Godwin
? The Cliff Godwin Era officially got underway on Feb. 13 with a three-game series against No. 2 Virginia ... Godwin, who was named the 16th head coach in school history on June 25, 2014, was a four-year letterwinner for the Pirates from 1998-2001 ... He has been a part of seven NCAA Regional and two College World Series teams at the Division I level as an assistant coach most recently helping Ole Miss to its first CWS appearance since 1972 ... As a player, he helped former ECU skipper Keith LeClair's teams post a 169-76 four-year ledger, including 46-plus wins in each of his final three seasons (16-16 in '99, 46-18 in '00 and 47-13 in '01) ... ECU won a pair of CAA Tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Regionals every season from 1999 to 2001 ... The Pirates were the top seed in their regional all three years, including a No. 6 national seed in 2001 where they advanced to the Super Regional round before being eliminated by Tennessee.
