Game Day Central: ECU Travels to Liberty In Midweek Action
April 28, 2015 | Baseball
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| East Carolina at Liberty Apr. 29, 2015 | 3 p.m. (ET) Lynchburg, Va. RADIO: WNCT 1070 AM |
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THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAME
? East Carolina and Liberty will meet for the second time this season on Wednesday, April 29 - a game added two weeks ago when ECU's contest against UNC Wilmington was rained out ... The Flames topped the Pirates 4-3 back on Feb. 22 in the 12th Annual Keith LeClair Classic ... ECU heads into the midweek match-up having won six-straight games and nine of its last 10, while Liberty is winners of three in a row (7 of last 10) ... The Pirates hold a 6-4 all-time meeting between the two clubs.
? Currently, the Flames are tied with Coastal Carolina and Radford in the Big South standings with a 14-4 mark ... This past weekend, Liberty swept a three-game Big South series from Gardner-Webb at Liberty Baseball Stadium ... Liberty pitching held Gardner-Webb to two runs on 10 hits during the series ... Liberty has posted a 18-6 record at Liberty Baseball Stadium this season ... The Flames are in the midst of six-game homestand ... After taking six days off for exams, Liberty will finish the homestand on May 6 against Richmond.
PIRATE QUICK HITS
? East Carolina enters this weeks action having won six-straight games (all by one run/3 via walk-off fashion) ... The Pirates have also won 9 of their last 10 games, including back-to-back AAC series wins at UConn and over UCF (sweep).
? David Lucroy owns a 2-3 record with a 2.00 ERA in 12 games (10 starts) ... 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 ... Made a pair of relief appearances last week (NC State/UCF).
? Reid Love earned his second AAC weekly honor and first as the Player-of-the-Week on April 27 following ECU's 5-0 outing ... On the week he batted .444 (8-for-18) with 3 RBI, 2 Rs, recorded a hit in all five contests and sparked walk-off wins vs. NC State and Duke ... On the mound vs. UCF went 8.2 inning allowing 2 Rs on 6Hs with a career-high nine strikeouts ... Named AAC Pitcher-of-the-Week on April 2 ... On the season he is 4-3 with 4 saves in 17 apps. (6 starts) with a 2.70 ERA ... At the plate he is batting .336 with 3 HRs, 14 RBI, 21 runs scored.
? Kirk Morgan has recorded at least one hit in 13 of last 15 games with multiple hits in seven contests ... Walk-off RBI single vs. NC State (3rd career GW RBI).
? Luke Lowery leads the team in nine offensive categories ... Walk-off single vs. Duke (7th career GW RBI) ... 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) ... Third on the team with 13 multi-hit games.
? Hunter Allen was named to Brooks Wallace Watch List (April 23), which is given to the nation's top shortstop ... Fourth on the team with a .319 BA ... Currently riding a 14-game hit streak.
? Charlie Yorgen was named to the AAC Honor Roll (April 2) ... Team leader with 26 walks and tied for 3rd with 27 runs in 42 games.
? ECU's starting pitching boasts a 2.77 ERA ... Allowed 111 runs (79 ERs) with 172 strikeouts to 55 walks in 257.0 innings.
? The bullpen has surrendered 65 runs (52 earned) in 146.0 innings posting a 3.21 ERA ... They have allowed 21 of 91 inherited runners to score (23.1 percent).
PROBABLE STARTERS
Wednesday: RHP David Lucroy (2-3, 2.00 ERA) vs. RHP Michael Stafford (2-2, 6.85 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).
THE PIRATES AT A GLANCE
? 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.
