Game Day Central: ECU Plays Tulane In AAC Championship
May 21, 2015 | Baseball
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| (2) East Carolina vs. (3) Tulane May 21, 2015 | 7 p.m. (EST) Clearwater, Fla. RADIO: WNCT 1070 AM |
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THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAME
? No. 2 East Carolina (37-20) and No. 3 Tulane (34-21) will meet for the fourth time this season in the winners bracket game Thursday, May 21 at 7 p.m. (ET) ... The winner will advance to the semifinal round on Saturday, May 23 at 1 p.m. (ET), while the loser will play on Friday, May 22 at 3 p.m. (ET) ... The Pirates took the home series against the Green Wave back in early April winning the first two games 3-0 and 11-4 before dropping the series finale 8-6 in Greenville ... ECU claimed an opening AAC Championship win over No. 7 UCF, 4-3, in walk-off fashion when Charlie Yorgen singled to right-center scoring Hunter Allen from second for its 37th win of the season, fourth walk-off win and ninth one-run victory ... Joe Ingle (1-0) picked up his first collegiate win tossing a perfect ninth frame with one strikeout ... Reid Love was solid in his outing allowing three runs (all earned) on nine hits with nine strikeouts and a walk in eight innings of work in a no-decision.
? Tulane got a pair of home runs from Lex Kaplan as the Green Wave topped No. 6 UConn 3-1 ... The Green Wave played solid defense, while getting a career-best performance out of right-hander Patrick Duester, who pitched 7.0 innings on the day ... Duester (7-5) held UConn in check throughout the contest, allowing just seven hits and one earned run while striking out five ... Kaplan's two-home run performance was not only the first multi-homer game of the season for the Green Wave, but he also became the first player in The American Baseball Championship to accomplish the feat in the tournament's two-year history.
PIRATE QUICK HITS (prior to start of championships)
? East Carolina enters the AAC Championships as the No. 2 seed, its highest conference finish since winning the 2009 C-USA regular season title ... The Pirates are coming off its fifth weekend sweep of the year (second in AAC play) at Cincinnati (7-3, 6-4, 8-7) and have won seven of their last 10 games.
? Reid Love will get the start against No. 7 UCF in the Pirates AAC opener ... Earned First-Team All-American honors as a pitcher and utility player (unanimous selection) ... Only player in the league this year to claim Player-of-the-Week (April 27) and Pitcher-of-the-Week (April 2) honors this season ... On the season he is 7-3 with 4 saves in 20 apps. (9 starts) with a 2.79 ERA and two CGs ... Worked into the seventh inning in last four starts (all wins) ... At the plate he is batting .301 with 3 HRs, 18 RBI, 22 runs scored.
? First-year head coach Cliff Godwin was named the 2015 American Athletic Conference Coach-of-the-Year ... Godwin becomes the fifth Pirate skipper in school history to take home coach-of-the-year accolades joining Monte Little (Southern Conference, 1977), Gary Overton (Colonial Athletic Association, 1990), Keith LeClair (Colonial Athletic Association, 1999 & 2000), Randy Mazey (Conference USA, 2004) and Billy Godwin (Conference USA, 2009) ... He is the second first-year coach in school history to earn the honors following Little in 1977 and his 36 wins are the most by any first-year skipper.
? Evan Kruczynski has won 7 of his 14 starts (3 NDs) ... Tossed 2nd CG in the AAC opener vs. Memphis allowing one run with six strikeouts ... Other was vs. Monmouth (2-Hit, SHO) ... Recorded a team-best nine quality starts.
? Jacob Wolfe appeared in 16 games (14 starts) ... Recorded 1st career save at UConn in the series finale ... Tossed 6.0 SHO frames vs. MON with 6Ks in first collegiate win ... Worked into the fifth inning in 10 of last 11 starts (7 quality starts).
? Luke Lowery earned First-Team All-American honors as the designated hitter ... He leads the team in 11 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 ... Has eight career GW RBI (4 in `15).
? Hunter Allen was named to Brooks Wallace Watch List (April 23), which is given to the nation's top shortstop ... Leads the team in hits (62) and BA (.339) ... At least one hit in 25 of last 30 games including 12 multi-hit contests.
? Bryce Harman is batting .250 on the season ... Leads team in HBPs (11), tied for lead with 11 doubles and 2 triples ... Second in HRs (7) and third in runs (32) ... Hit home runs in four of last nine games.
? Charlie Yorgen was named to the AAC Honor Roll (April 2) ... Team leader with 30 BBs, 13 SHs and tied for first with 16 multi-hit games.
? ECU's starting pitching boasts a 3.15 ERA ... Allowed 146 runs (112 ERs) with 213 Ks to 75 BBs in 320.0 innings ... The bullpen has surrendered 90 runs (76 earned) in 175.0 innings posting a 3.91 ERA ... They have allowed 32 of 114 inherited runners to score (28.1 percent).
PROBABLE STARTERS
Thursday: LHP Evan Kruczynski (7-4, 3.29 ERA) vs. RHP Corey Merrill (4-5, 2.13 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.
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