Game Day Central: No. 21 ECU Hosts USF
May 12, 2016 | Baseball
| No. 21 East Carolina vs. USF (Games 49-51) | |
| Dates: | May 13-15 |
| Times: | 6:30 p.m. (ET) / 4 p.m. (ET) / 11 am. (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 | USF | American Athletic Conference |
| Game Notes | East Carolina  | USF | The American |
| 2016 Baseball Statistics | East Carolina | USF |
| 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. 21 East Carolina (30-17-1, 11-6-1 AAC) will play its final home series of the season, hosting American Athletic Conference member USF (21-27, 6-12 AAC) this weekend at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium. First pitch of the weekend is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (ET) Friday, May 13.
PROMOTIONS
? It's Military Appreciation Weekend at Clark-LeClair Stadium ... Friday: Game Sponsor -- Centurylink ... Greenville Recreation and Parks ($2 tickets) ... Saturday: Game Sponsor -- Mayne Pharma ... Ceremonial first pitch by John Goubeax (Wounded Warrior Project veteran) ... Bark at the Park (link) ... Wounded Warrior Project Day ... PCSD Staff Appreciation Day ($3 tickets) ... Camper Reunion Day ($3 tickets) ... Sunday: Pre-game U.S. Army Enlistment Ceremony ... School Day ... Post-game kids run the bases and team autographs ... Post-game scrimmage with Exceptional Community Baseball League (ECBL).
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAME
? ECU and USF will meet for the 20th time when the two play Friday evening ... The Pirates lead the all-time series 14-5, but have lost three of the last five games dating back to 2005 when both were members of Conference USA ... ECU just completed a four-game road trip posting a 3-1 record which included a series sweep at UCONN and a midweek loss at No. 22 North Carolina ... USF lost five-straight games including four consecutive in league play entering this weekend ... ECU sits in second place in The American just a half game behind Tulane (11-5), while USF occupies eighth place.
? The Pirates are ranked in the national polls for the 11th consecutive week (see page 13) following their 3-0 week ... They jumped three spots to No. 21 in the D1Baseball.com poll and are receiving votes in the NCBWA, USA Today/Coaches and Perfect Game Polls ... 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)
? Evan Kruczynski owns a 5-1 record with a league-best 1.40 ERA ... Friday starter, he has faced off against All-America hurlers Connor Jones (UVA), Andrew Lantrip (HOU) and Anthony Kay/twice (UCONN), as well as National POWs Kyle Cedotal (SE Louisiana), Jon Duplantier (Rice) and Lantrip posting a 2-0 record ... Named to the Golden Spikes Midseason Award and National College Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher-of-the-Year Watch Lists on April 20 ... Eleven quality starts (21 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 six quality starts (UVA, Rice, JAX, HOU, UCONN, CIN).
? Jacob Wolfe is 6-3 on the season with a 2.34 ERA in 13 starts ... Tossed first career complete game at UCONN (5/8) with a personal-best nine strikeouts ... Two-time AAC Pitcher-of-the-Week (2/29, 5/9) ... Has 17 career quality starts (8 in 2016) and 11 career wins.
? Dwanya Williams-Sutton leads the AAC in avgerage (.359) and on-base pct. (.440), while ranking third in slugging (.570) ... Two-time league honor roll selection (2/29, 5/9) ... Hit a two home runs in UCONN series (May 6-8) including game-winner (4th in 2016) in the seventh (3-run shot) in Sunday's finale ... Has 16 extra-base hits on the season (9/2Bs, 3/3Bs, 4 HRs) - HRs vs. JAX, Elon and UCONN (twice).
? Parker Lamm is second on the team and sixth in The American in batting (.320) ... Named to AAC Honor Roll (4/18) after batting .538 with eight RBI at Memphis ... Recorded at least one hit in 34 of 44 games where he has an official at-bat, while reaching base in 37 contests.
? Travis Watkins batting .311, which ranks eighth in The American ... Leads ECU in doubles (14), runs (33) and total bases (79) ... Has 3 HRs and 26 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 40 of 47 games ... Thrown out 16 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).
? Eric Tyler is a two-time AAC Honor Roll selection (3/28 & 4/4) ... Batting .299 ... Leads the club with 31 RBI and is tied with Dwanya Williams-Sutton for the lead in HRs (4) ... 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 a pair of saves at UCONN pushing his season total to a league-best 11 ... Also ranks seventh in the nation in saves ... 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 2.59 ERA in 24 games ... Recorded 19 career saves, which is fourth all-time at ECU ... Named to NCBWA Stopper-of-the-Year Watch List.
? ECU's starting pitching boasts a 2.47 ERA ... Allowed 92 runs (72 earned) with 187 Ks to 67 BBs in 262.2 innings ...The bullpen has surrendered 97 runs (83 earned) with 170 Ks to 76 BBs in 165.2 innings for a 4.51 ERA ... Allowed 56 of 121 inherited runners to score (46.3 percent).
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday: RHP Phoenix Sanders (5-4, 3.30 ERA) vs. LHP Evan Kruczynski (5-1, 1.40 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Brandon Lawson (4-4, 2.47 ERA) vs. RHP Jimmy Boyd (6-3, 2.43 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Joe Cavallaro (4-3, 3.95 ERA) vs. LHP Jacob Wolfe (6-3, 2.34 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 70-39-1 overall record (.641 percentage) as a head coach ... Third fastest 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.
