Game Day Central: No. 17 ECU Hosts Cincinnati
April 29, 2016 | Baseball
| No. 17 East Carolina vs. Cincinnati (Games 42-44) | |
| Dates: | April 29-May 1 |
| Times | 6:30 p.m. / 4 p.m. / 12 Noon (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 | Cincinnati | American Athletic Conference |
| Game Notes | East Carolina  | Cincinnati | The American |
| 2016 Baseball Statistics | East Carolina | Cincinnati |
| 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. 17 East Carolina (26-15, 7-5 AAC) will play host to the American Athletic Conference leader Cincinnati (20-21, 8-4 AAC) in a three-game weekend series at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium this weekend. First pitch of the series is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (ET) on Friday, April 29.
PROMOTIONS
? Friday: ECU Athletics Staff Tailgate ... Final Greek Challenge Day ... First 150 fans get a pair of NIKE socks ... Ceremonial first pitch by Avion Jones (ECU Men's Track & Field student-athlete) ... Post-game fireworks show ... Saturday: Bring Your `A' Game (children get free admission by showing their report card with an A in any subject) ... Ceremonial bat presentation and first pitch by Chancellor Steve Ballard ... Sunday: First 500 fans receive a foam mitt ... Ceremonial first pitch by ECU Homecoming King and Queen ... Greenville Little League Day ($2 tickets) ... ECBL Day ($2 tickets) and post-game scrimmage with the team ... Post-game kids run the bases and team autographs.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAME
? ECU and Cincinnati will meet for the 16th time when both schools hookup Friday night for game one of the three-game series ... The Pirates own a 11-3-1 all-time record in the series and have won four-straight games dating back to 2005 when the two clubs were members of Conference USA.
? ECU is ranked in the national polls for the ninth consecutive week (see page 13) following inclusion in three polls this week (No. 17/D1Baseball, No. 21/Baseball America and No. 24/USAToday Coaches) ... ECU also received votes in the NCBWA 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.
PIRATE QUICK HITS (prior to weekend series)
? The Pirates are coming off a series win over UCONN and a rare Monday loss at No. 6 NC State ... ECU owns an 18-7 record at home, while posting an 8-8 ledger on the road.
? Evan Kruczynski owns a 5-0 record with a 1.51 ERA ... Friday starter, he has faced off against All-America hurlers Connor Jones (UVA), Andrew Lantrip (HOU) and Anthony Kay (UCONN), as well as National POWs Kyle Cedotal (SE Louisiana), Jon Duplantier (Rice) and Lantrip posting a 2-0 record ... He was named to the Golden Spikes Midseason Award and National College Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher-of-the-Year Watch Lists on April 20 ... NIne quality starts (19 career) in 2016.
? Jimmy Boyd has picked up the series clinching wins against HOU & MEM in AAC play ... Out dueled NCBWA National POW Seth Romero working a career-high 8.2 innings and was one out shy of a CG SHO (two-out error) in a 5-1 win, where he was named AAC and CollegeSportsMadness POW ... Recorded five quality starts (UVA, Rice, JAX, HOU, UCONN).
? Jacob Wolfe is 5-3 on the season with a 2.42 ERA in 11 starts ... Notched wins at TUL and vs. UCONN tossing career-high 7.2 innings ... 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 16 career quality starts (7 in 2016) and 10 career wins.
? Dwanya Williams-Sutton leads the Pirates and AAC in batting (.356) and on-base percentage (.448) ... Also ranks first on the club with a .538 slugging percentage, which stands third in the league ... Has 12 extra-base hits on the season (7/2Bs, 3/3Bs, 2 HRs) - HRs vs. JAX and Elon ... Recorded his third GW RBI against Houston (4/2) ... Named to AAC Honor Roll (2/29).
? Parker Lamm is second on the team and in the AAC in batting (.350) ... Named to AAC Honor Roll (4/18) after batting .538 with eight RBI during Memphis series ... Recorded at least one hit in 31 of 37 games where he has an official at-bat, while reaching base safely in 32 contests.
? Eric Tyler is a two-time AAC Honor Roll selection (3/28 & 4/4) ... Batting .289 ... Leads the club in HRs (4) and RBI (31) ... First career multi-HR game vs. JAX (3/26) setting an ECU & AAC single-game record with 8 RBI ... Personal-best four hits vs. UNCW (3/29).
? Joe Ingle recorded AAC-best eighth save vs. UCONN (4/24) in series clinching 3-2 win ... Named AAC Honor Roll (4/25) ... Worked a career-high 4.0 IP with 7 Ks vs. Elon (4/5) in a win ... Fanned career-high nine vs. Maryland (3/6) ... Owns a 5-3 record with a 2.34 ERA in 20 games ... Recorded 16 career saves, which is tied for fourth all-time at ECU ... Named to NCBWA Stopper-of-the-Year Watch List.
? Travis Watkins batting .320, which ranks seventh in the AAC ... Leads ECU in doubles (13), runs (30) and total bases (71) ... Has 3 HRs and 24 RBI ... Laced three doubles at Memphis (4/16), which hadn't been done since Trent Whitehead in 2011 ... Picked up 11th GW-RBI with 2-R HR vs. UCONN (4/24), which was his third of the season ... At least one hit in 34 of 40 games ... Thrown out 14 would-be base stealers behind the plate ranking third in the AAC ... 2015 Johnny Bench Award semifinalist ... Four-time Bench Watch List candidate (2013-16).
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday: RHP Andrew Zellner (5-2, 1.80 ERA) vs. LHP Evan Kruczynski (5-0, 1.51 ERA)
Saturday: LHP J.T. Perez (5-2, 2.87 ERA) vs. RHP Jimmy Boyd (5-3, 2.39 ERA)
Sunday: RHP David Orndorff (2-3, 3.77 ERA) vs. LHP Jacob Wolfe (5-3, 2.42 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 66-37 overall record (.641 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.
