Game Day Central: No. 19 ECU Hosts No. 15 Houston
March 31, 2016 | Baseball
| No. 19 East Carolina vs. No. 15 Houston (Games 26-28) | |
| Dates: | April 1-3 |
| Time | 6:30 p.m. / 4 p.m. / 11 a.m. (ET) |
| 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) TuneIn Radio Online (within the app search WNCT -- Beach Boogie & Blues) |
| Internet Options | GameTracker |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | Houston | American Athletic Conference |
| Game Notes | East Carolina  | Houston | The American |
| 2016 Baseball Statistics | East Carolina | Houston |
| 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. -- No. 19 East Carolina opens American Athletic Conference play this weekend playing host to No. 15 Houston for a three-game series starting April 1 at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium. First pitch for Friday's game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (ET).
PROMOTIONS
? Saturday: First-year head football coach Scottie Montgomery will throw out the ceremonial first pitch ... First 500 fans will receive a free ECU can koozie ... This game has been designated as Greenville Parks & Recreation Day (tickets are $2 when you present the attached flyer ) ... It is also ECU Admitted Students (known as Pirates Aboard) Weekend where tickets are $2 when redeemed with appropriate advertisement ... Sunday: Post-game kids run the bases and team autograph session.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAME
? ECU and Houston split last years series at two games apiece ... The Cougars claimed the weekend series in Houston on their way to the regular season title ... In the 2015 AAC Championship Game, ECU took the automatic post-season bid with a 9-1 victory ... The Pirates own a 24-23-1 all-time record in the series, but the Cougars have won six of the last 10 games ... Saturday's game will be streamed on the American Digital Network and can been seen by clicking here.
? ECU is ranked in the national polls for the fifth-straight week after garnering a No. 19 ranking by D1Baseball.com ... The Pirates are also receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and USA Today Coaches poll.
PIRATE QUICK HITS (prior to weekend series)
? East Carolina (17-8) opens American Athletic Conference play this weekend playing host to No. 15 Houston (16-8) ... Coming into weekend action, the Pirates have won six of their last eight contests including a 9-6 midweek win over in-state rival UNC Wilmington ... ECU owns a 13-5 record at home and are 4-3 on the road ... The Pirates claimed their fourth-straight LeClair Classic title picking up wins over SE Louisiana and Maryland (Mar. 4-6) ... ECU is ranked in the national polls for a fifth consecutive week (see page 11) garnering a No. 19 ranking by D1Baseball, while receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and USA Today Coaches poll .. They first entered the polls after picking up a road series win over No. 4 Virginia (Feb. 27-29) - the first over a Top 5 program since 2002.
? Evan Kruczynski has started six games posting a 3-0 record with a 1.98 ERA ... As the Friday starter, he has faced off against All-America hurler Connor Jones (UVA), National Pitchers-of-the-Week Kyle Cedotal (SE Louisiana) and Jon Duplantier (Rice) posting a 1-0 record ... Has five quality starts (15 career) on the season.
? Jimmy Boyd moves into the Saturday spot for the series ... Appeared in seven games (five starts) where he owns a 3-1 record and a 2.41 ERA ... He is one of four pitchers with 22-plus strikeouts and has walked just eight batters in 37.1 innings of work ... Has recorded three quality starts (UVA, Rice, Jacksonville).
? Jacob Wolfe picked up the win against UNCW improving to 3-2 on the season with a 2.06 ERA in seven starts ... Named AAC Pitcher-of-the-Week (2/29) after limiting No. 4 UVA to just one run (unearned) on four hits in 6.0 innings securing ECU's series win at UVA ... Has 14 career quality starts (5 in 2016) and eight career wins.
? Luke Bolka leads the team with a .448 batting average (13-for-29) ... He is one of nine players with a home run.
? Parker Lamm is batting .364, which is second on the team ... Tied for third in the AAC with five sac bunts ... Recorded at least one hit in 18 of 21 games where he has an official at-bat, while reaching base safely in 20 contests.
? Dwanya Williams-Sutton belted his first career home run against Jacksonville (Mar. 25) ... Recorded his second game-winning RBI against Maryland (3/6) ... Named to AAC Honor Roll (2/29) ... Ranks among AAC leaders in BA, OB Pct. and Slugging Pct.
? Eric Tyler leads the club with four home runs ... Recorded first career multi-HR game vs. Jacksonville (Mar. 26) setting an ECU and AAC single-game record with eight RBI ... Named AAC Weekly Honor Roll on Mar. 28 ... Currently batting .323 with a team-best 24 RBI.
? Charlie Yorgen extended his consecutive start streak to 130 games (started in 2014 season) against UNCW (Mar. 29) ... Tallied career-best four hits vs. the Aggies (Feb. 23).
? Joe Ingle worked a career-best 3.2 innings of relief with a career-high nine strikeouts in a 4-3 win over Maryland (3/6) ... Owns a 3-2 record with five of saves (13 career) ... Named to NCBWA Stopper-of-the-Year Watch List.
? Travis Watkins batting .330 with a team high 10 doubles ... Has two HRs and 17 RBI ... Recorded at least one hit in 21 of 24 games ... 2015 Johnny Bench Award semifinalist ... Four-time Bench Watch List candidate (2013-16). ECU's starting pitching boasts a 2.69 ERA ... Allowed 48 runs (39 earned) with 84 Ks to 30 BBs in 130.2 innings ...The bullpen has surrendered 53 runs (47 earned) in 93.1 innings for a 4.53 ERA ... They have allowed 30 of 59 inherited runners to score (50.8 percent).
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday: LHP Andrew Lantrip (4-2, 1.69 ERA) vs. LHP Evan Kruczynski (3-0, 1.98 ERA)
Saturday: LHP Seth Romero (4-0, 0.58 ERA) vs. RHP Jimmy Boyd (3-1, 2.41 ERA)
Sunday: TBA vs. LHP Jacob Wolfe (3-2, 2.06 ERA)
ECU'S HISTORY ON THE DIAMOND
? In its storied history, the Pirates 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).
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 ... Currently owns a 57-30 overall record (.655 percentage) as a head coach ... Third fast coach to reach the 50-win plateau, which he did in 75 games (Earl Smith and Dr. Gary Overton did it in 65 games) ... 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.
