Game Day Central: Pirates Host Lancers In 2016 Season Opener
February 18, 2016 | Baseball
| East Carolina vs. Longwood (Games 1-3) | |
| Dates | Feb. 19-21 |
| Times | 4 p.m./2 p.m./1 p.m. (EST) |
| Location | Greenville, N.C. (Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium) |
| Tickets & Parking | Buy Tickets | Parking Information (PDF) |
| Live Game Coverage |  Radio: WNCT 1070 AM | ECU Pirates On Demand (Listen/Watch Live) |
| Internet Options | GameTracker |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | Longwood | American Athletic Conference |
| Game Notes | East Carolina  | Longwood | The American |
| 2015 Baseball Statistics | East Carolina | Longwood |
| ECU Baseball Central | Promotional Calendar | Roster | Fact Book | The American | NCAA Baseball | College Scoreboard |
| Official Social Media Sites | |
| East Carolina | The American | |
| East Carolina | ECUScoreboard (In-Game Updates) | The American | |
| Twitter Hashtags | #ECUPirates | #ECUBaseball | #AmericanRising |
| East Carolina | The American | |
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- East Carolina opens the 2016 baseball season on Friday, Feb. 19 when it plays host to Longwood at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium with a 4 p.m. (EST) scheduled first pitch.
The Pirates return 17 letterwinners including Coral Gables All-Regional selection Garrett Brooks, 2015 Freshman All-America and All-AAC Tournament member Joe Ingle, three-time Johnny Bench Award Watch List Travis Watkins, weekend starters Evan Kruczynski and Jacob Wolfe, along with 2014 all-conference performers Bryce Harman and Charlie Yorgen.
ECU welcomes 17 newcomers, which consist of five infielders (Turner Brown, Kendall Ford, Brady Lloyd, Wesley Phillips and Drew Piscorik), three outfielders (Justin Dirden, Ryan Littlefield and Dwanya Williams-Sutton), one catcher (Jake Washer), six pitchers (Matt Bridges, Cam Colmore, West Covington, Chris Holba, Sam Lanier and Shelton Perkins, Jr.) and a pair of two-way players (Denny Brady and Zack Mozingo).
PROMOTIONS
? Friday: Business Person's Special - Fans can submit their business card to the ticket office and receive up to four (4) tickets for just $4 each ... Baseball Banquet Voucher - Fans who attended the baseball banquet can redeem their voucher for free admission ... Saturday: Girl Scouts Day ... Ceremonial first pitch by Alan Mizelle ... Post-game Swing for Your Seats - fans can attempt to hit a home run to win two (2) regular season tickets (NOTE: Participants must be 18 years of age and adhere to the regulations set forth in the promotional contest waiver form) ... Sunday: Fan Appreciation Day - Fans can bring either their Feb. 20th Connecticut Women's Basketball game ticket (or voucher) and receive $3 admission to the game ... Greenville Little League Day - Members of Greenville Little League receive $2 tickets by mentioning their league at the ticket office ... Post-game Kids Run the Bases and player autographs ... A complete 2016 Promotional Calendar can be found online by clicking here.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAME
? The Pirates, who are set to open their 81st season of intercollegiate baseball on Feb. 19 at home against Longwood, won the 1961 NAIA National Championship, have claimed 24 conference titles (13 regular season/11 tournament), made 27 NCAA Regionals and advanced to three Super Regionals (2001, 2004 and 2009).
? East Carolina and Longwood will meet for the first time on the diamond when the two teams meet in the 2016 season opener on Friday ... The Pirates and Lancers have faced one another in softball (ECU leads 6-2) and in women's basketball (ECU leads 7-2).
PIRATE QUICK HITS (prior to weekend games)
? East Carolina closed out the 2015 season suffering a pair of losses at the Coral Gables Regional (Columbia/6-3, FIU/2-0) finishing with a 40-22 overall record ... The Pirates earned a second place finish in the American Athletic Conference with a 15-9 record and captured their first tournament title since 2002 sweeping through the AAC Championships with a perfect 4-0 record in Clearwater, Fla. ... ECU made its 27th regional appearances in school history and first since 2012 (Chapel Hill Regional) and now owns a 31-55 all-time record.
? Evan Kruczynski led the Pirates in wins in 2015 ... Recorded a team-best 10 quality starts in 16 appearances ... Won 8 of 16 starts (4 NDs) ... Tossed a pair of complete games (Monmouth, Memphis) with one complete game shutout (Monmouth/2-hits) ... Worked into the sixth inning 13 times (7th inning 8 times) ... Tallied a career-high 10 strikeouts against UCF (Apr. 24) ... Named Jungle Pitching MVP.
? Jacob Wolfe appeared in 17 games (15 starts) ... Recorded 1st career save at UConn (April 19) ... Tossed 6.0 shutout frames vs. Monmouth with six strikeouts in first collegiate win ... Worked into the fifth inning in 11 of last 12 starts (8 quality starts).
? Joe Ingle earned AAC All-Tournament Team honors after recording first career win and posting two saves ... Owns three ECU Freshman records - appearances (32); ERA (1.14), saves (8) ... Allowed 15 of 45 inherited runners to score ... NCBWA National Player-of-the-Week on March 20, 2015 ... NCBWA Stopper Watch List for 2016.
? Bryce Harman set the single-season record with 570 putouts ... Belted seven home runs ... Tallied 11 multi-hit and seven multi-RBI games ... Team leader in doubles (12), while ranking second in HBPs (12).
? Charlie Yorgen was named to the AAC Honor Roll (April 2) ... Team leader with 31 BBs, 16 SHs and tied for third with 18 multi-hit games ... Game-winning hit vs. UCF on May 20th (five career).
? Travis Watkins was a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award in 2015 ... Three-time Bench Watch List candidate ... Fourth on the team with 16 multi-hit games.
? ECU's starting pitching boasted a 3.07 ERA ... Allowed 157 runs (122 ERs) with 243 Ks to 84 BBs in 358.0 innings ... The bullpen surrendered 94 runs (80 earned) in 190. innings posting a 3.79 ERA ... They allowed 38 of 130 inherited runners to score (29.2 percent).
? The Pirates ranked third nationally in bunt singles (36) and outfield assists (18) ... They stood 14th in the country in double plays turned (59) and walks allowed per nine innings (2.48), while ranking 19th in strikeout to walk ratio (2.76).
? ECU has appeared in more NCAA Regionals (27) than any other team without advancing to a CWS.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday: RHP Travis Burnette (3-3, 5.23 ERA) vs. LHP Evan Kruczynski (8-4, 3.17 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Tyler Wirsu (no stats available) vs. LHP Jacob Wolfe (5-2, 3.35 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Zach Potojecki (0-1; 4.58 ERA) vs. TBA
GODWIN AT A GLANCE
? Cliff 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 eight NCAA Regional and two College World Series teams at the Division I level as an assistant coach and head coach ... Godwin guided the Pirates to a 40-win season, an American Athletic Conference Tournament title and a berth in the Coral Gables Regional -- its first NCAA Regional since 2012 -- in his first year at the helm ... Named 2015 AAC Coach-of-the-Year and was inducted into the George Whitfield Hall of Fame in January of 2016 ... 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. 7 national seed in 2001 where they advanced to the Super Regional round before being eliminated by Tennessee.
