East Carolina University
La Salle
GAMEDAY PREVIEW: La Salle at No. 11 East Carolina
February 23, 2017 | Baseball
| La Salle at No. 11 East Carolina (Games 5-7) | |
| Dates | Feb. 24-26, 2017 |
| Times | 4 p.m. \\\ 2 p.m. \\\ 1 p.m. (ET) |
| Location | Greenville, N.C. (Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium) |
| Tickets | Buy Tickets |
| Live Game Coverage | Radio: WNCT 1070 AM TuneIn Radio: Online (within the app search WNCT – Beach Boogie & Blues) |
| Internet Options | Live Stats: All Weekend |
| Promotions | Click here |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | La Salle | American Athletic Conference |
| Game Notes | East Carolina (PDF) | The American (PDF) |
| 2017 Statistics | East Carolina | La Salle | The American |
| Baseball Central | Roster | Fact Book (PDF) | The American | NCAA Baseball | College Scoreboard |
| Social Media | @ECUScoreboard (in-game updates) | The American #ECUPirates | #ECUBaseball | #AmericanRising |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – No. 11 East Carolina (1-3) will open its home season this weekend playing host to La Salle (0-4) in a three-game series at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium. First pitch for Friday is scheduled for a 4 p.m. (ET) start.
The Pirates return 19 letterwinners, including four Charlottesville All-Regional selections (Evan Kruczynski, Eric Tyler, Travis Watkins/Most Outstanding Player and Charlie Yorgen), 2016 Freshman All-American Dwanya Williams-Sutton and 2014 all-conference performer Bryce Harman. In all, the roster consists of 10 freshmen, eight sophomores, nine juniors and nine seniors.
Also stepping onto the diamond are 14 newcomers, a group that consists of three infielders (Nick Barber, Spencer Brickhouse and Bryant Packard), one catcher (Zack Moore), four outfielders (Dusty Baker, Tyler Edwards, Andrew Henrickson and T.J. Riles) and six pitchers (Jake Agnos, Trey Benton, Hunter Britt, Hunter Hood, Ryan Ross, Tyler Smith). The 2016-17 recruiting class garnered a No. 23 national ranking by Baseball America.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAME
• East Carolina and La Salle will meet for jus the third, fourth and fifth times this weekend with both teams splitting games … The Explorers won the first contest back in 1964 (4-2), while the Pirates got the win in 1984 (5-0) in the ECAC Tournament … ECU picked up its first win of the year blanking Big South member and in-state for Campbell 10-0 during midweek action … La Salle is still looking for its first win of the 2017 season.
• The Pirates, who are in their 82nd season of intercollegiate baseball, won the 1961 NAIA National Championship, have claimed 24 conference titles (13 regular season/11 tournament), made 28 NCAA Regionals and advanced to four Super Regionals (2001, 2004, 2009 and 2016).
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday: LHP Luke Reilly (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Evan Kruczynski (0-1, 3.86 ERA)
Saturday: RHP C.J. Pruitt (0-1, 2.25 ERA) vs. LHP Jacob Wolfe (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Mike Anthony (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Trey Benton (0-0, 10.80 ERA)
CEREMONIAL FIRST PITCHES
Friday: Garrett Brooks (3:50 p.m.)
Saturday: Jimmy Boyd (1:50 p.m.)
Sunday: Brian Cavanaugh (12:50 p.m.)
PIRATE QUICK HITS (prior to game)
• Last year Godwin guided the Pirates to their second consecutive NCAA Regional (No. 3 seed in Charlottesville) and a Super Regional appearance (Lubbock, Texas). ECU, who posted a 38-23-1 record and finished second in The American (15-8-1), rolled through regional play picking up wins against No. 20 Bryant (9-1), No. 10 Virginia (8-6) and William & Mary (8-4) en route to claiming the Charlottesville crown – its fourth regional title. The Pirates continued their magical run, defeating No. 5 national seed Texas Tech, 8-6, in the opener of the Super Regional and came 90 feet away from making their first appearance in the Men's College World Series in game two of the series.
• Evan Kruczynski tallied his 25th career quality start at Ole Miss (2/17) out of 34 starts ... Named to three preseason All-America Teams (Collegiate Baseball, NCBWA, Perfect Game) and was tabbed as The American Preseason Co-Pitcher-of-the-Year ... Friday night starter for the third-straight season ... Named to 2016 Charlottesville All-Regional Team while earning Third-Team All-America honors by D1Baseball.
• Jacob Wolfe was impressive in his 2017 debut tossing five scoreless frames at Ole Miss (2/18) in a no-decision ... He owns an 11-6 career ledger with a 3.04 ERA in 45 games (33 starts) ... Tossed first career complete game at UCONN (5/8/16) with a personal-best nine strikeouts ... Two-time AAC Pitcher-of-the-Week (both in 2016) ... Has 17 career quality starts.
• Trey Benton will get the Sunday nod for the second-straight week ... The freshman right-hander worked 1.2 innings allowing a pair of runs (both earned) at Ole Miss (2/19).
• Dwanya Williams-Sutton belted his first home run of the year (sixth career) after an 11-pitch at-bat against Ole Miss to open the 2017 season ... Garnered a pair of preseason All-America honors (D1Baseball, NCBWA) and was a unanimous preseason All-AAC selection ... Led The American in average (.360) and on-base percentage (.455) on his way to three Freshman All-America Team designations ... Tallied six game-winning RBI on the season with four coming in league play.
• Travis Watkins, who was hitless in the first two games of the season (0-for-7), broke out with a 3-for-5 performance in the Ole Miss finale driving in three runs ... The five-time Johnny Bench Award Watch List candidate (2013-17) has thrown out 4 of 6 would-be base stealers on the season ... 2017 preseason All-AAC selection by the leagues coaches ... Two time team captain and two-time Bench Award semifinalist (2015-16).
• Spencer Brickhouse opened his collegiate career picking up a pair of hits at Ole Miss (2/17) in the season opener which included his first career home run that came in the ninth inning ... He started all four games at first base for the injured Bryce Harman.
• Charlie Yorgen extended his consecutive start streak to 171 games (started in 2014) at Campbell ... Second on the team in average (.385) and RBI (5).
• Joe Ingle tossed 3.1 scoreless frames at Ole Miss in the series finale with four strikeouts ... Named a 2017 Second-Team Preseason All-American by NCBWA ... Unanimous preseason All-AAC selection ... Three-time Stopper-of-the-Year candidate (2015-17) ... Notched 20 career saves (4th all-time at ECU) ... Owns a 7-3 record in 64 games with a 2.67 ERA.
• Thirteen (13) players made the Pirate debuts last weekend at Ole Miss (8 positional/5 pitchers) ... Nick Barber, Brickhouse, Andrew Henrickson, Bryant Packard and T.J. Riles all made starts in the field, while Trey Benton started game three of the Ole Miss series.
• ECU has appeared in more NCAA Regionals (28) than any other team without advancing to a CWS.
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 nine NCAA Regional and two College World Series teams at the Division I level as an assistant coach and head coach …During his two years at the helm of the program, Godwin has guided ECU to a pair of NCAA Regional berths, a Super Regional appearance, an American Athletic Conference Tournament title and a 79-48-1 (.621) overall record … Three players have earned All-America honors, five were named to the Charlottesville All-Regional Team, six took home all-conference honors (five first-teamers), seven were selected as American Player-of-the-Week, while a pair were drafted by Major League Baseball teams … 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.
