East Carolina University
Mercer
Gameday: No. 8 ECU Hosts Mercer
March 16, 2017 | Baseball
| Mercer at No. 8 East Carolina (Games 18-20) | |
| Dates | March 17 (two games) and March 19, 2017 |
| Times | 4 p.m. \\\ 45 min. after Game 1 \\\ 1 p.m. |
| Location | Greenville, N.C.(Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium) |
| Tickets | Buy Tickets |
| Live Game Coverage | Radio: WNCT 1070 AM Watch Live (All Weekend) TuneIn Radio: Online (Pirate IMG Sports Network) |
| Internet Options | Live Stats: All Weekend Games |
| Promotions | Click here |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | Mercer |
| Game Notes | East Carolina (PDF) | Mercer (PDF) l The American (PDF) |
| 2017 Statistics | East Carolina | Mercer | 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. 8 East Carolina (13-4) returns home to play host to Mercer (14-4) in a three-game non-conference series at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium. First pitch of the weekend is scheduled for 4 p.m. (ET) on Friday, March 17 with game two of the doubleheader slated to begin 45 minutes at the conclusion of the first. Third game of the series will be played on Sunday, March 19 at 1 p.m. (ET).
REVISED SCHEDULE
Friday, March 17, 2017
Game 1: Mercer at (8) East Carolina – 4 p.m. (ET)
Game 2: Approximately 45 minutes after conclusion of Game 1
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Mercer at (8) East Carolina – 1 p.m. (ET)
MUSTACHE MARCH
• The entire team, including the coaching staff and support staff, will participate in Mustache March in order to raise awareness and money for the Jim "Catfish" Hunter chapter. Mustache March will create a fun and entertaining environment for Pirate fans throughout the month of March, which will also help towards ALS research. Please join our efforts of Striking Out ALS by donating to our event. All money raised throughout the season will go straight to the ALS Association, and more specifically the Jim "Catfish" Hunter chapter. During the 14th-Annual Keith LeClair Classic (March 3-5) members of the local ALS Chapter were on hand to receive donations. Also, please follow our status through various social media outlets (@ECUBaseball, and many more), as well as on the field. Go Pirates! ... For more information about Mustache March, please click on this link.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE WEEKEND
• East Carolina and Mercer will meet for the first time on the diamond this weekend … The Pirates enter the series having won nine of their last 10 games (13 of 14) after starting the season 0-3 … The Bears are winners of six of their last seven games.
• ECU enters the weekend ranked in the Top-25 in all six major polls (8/Baseball America, 10/Perfect Game, 17/USA Today, 18/D1Baseball, 18/NCBWA and 20/Collegiate Baseball).
• 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).
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.
• Jake Agnos, who moved into the Friday night role after Evan Kruczynski went down with an injury, will make his second career start against Mercer ... The lefty has appeared in four games allowing one run (earned) on seven hits with 15 strikeouts and seven walks in 15.0 innings ... Has not allowed a run in 11.0 consecutive innings ... Fanned a career-best 11 in five frames vs. WCU (3/3).
• Trey Benton will toe the rubber Friday in Game 2 of the doubleheader against Mercer ... The right-hander is 2-0 in four starts and has fanned 24 (21 in last three games) while walking just seven ... He sports a 1.45 ERA after allowing four runs (three earned) in 18.2 innings ... Struck out a career-high 10 batters against La Salle (2/25).
• Jacob Wolfe is 2-0 on the season after picking up wins against La Salle and Charlotte ... He owns a 13-6 career ledger with a 3.14 ERA in 49 games (36 starts) ... Tossed first career complete game at UCONN (5/8/16) with a personal-best nine strikeouts ... Has 17 career quality starts.
• Spencer Brickhouse leads the club in home runs (4) and runs scored (18) ... Hit three home runs in two-game set at CofC including his first multi-HR game on Mar. 8 (consecutive at-bats) ... Belted first home run in first collegiate game at Ole Miss (2/17) ... He started all 17 games (16/1B, 1/DH) and is batting .339 with 12 RBI ... Two game-winning RBI (ASU, CofC).
• Travis Watkins leads team with 24 hits while batting a club second best .348 ... Belted second home run of the season (13th career) hitting his third career grand slam against Charlotte in game one of the doubleheader (3/11) ... The five-time Johnny Bench Award Watch List candidate (2013-17) has thrown out 4 of 7 would-be base stealers on the season ... Two-time team captain and two-time Bench Award semifinalist (2015-16).
• Charlie Yorgen extended his consecutive start streak to 184 games (started in 2014) at Duke ... Belted first homer of the year (6th career) with his 3-run shot in the 10th inning giving ECU a 10-7 walk-off win against Charlotte in game one of the doubleheader (3/11) ... Team leader with a .349 average.
• Bryant Packard enters this weekend on a six-game hitting streak ... Hit first collegiate home run (solo) against Charlotte (G1) ... Tallied three multi-hit games on the year.
• Luke Bolka is tied for second on the team with two HRs, while driving in 14 (t3rd) ... Tallied a three game-winning RBI ... Blasted his second homer of the season hitting a grand slam in the second game of the La Salle series.
• Joe Ingle has worked 10.1 innings out of the bullpen allowing five runs (all earned) with 14 Ks ... Owns a 3-0 record ... 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 10-3 record in 70 games with a 2.85 ERA.
• Dusty Baker enters this weekend's action on a five-game hitting streak ... Currently he is batting .500 on the season in 11 games (four starts) ... Collected first career-RBI at Duke on an infield bunt single ... Scored nine runs on the year.
• ECU's starting pitching sports a 2.87 ERA ... Allowed 31 runs (25 earned) with 72 Ks to 28 BBs in 78.1 innings ...The bullpen has surrendered 35 runs (30 earned) with 82 Ks to 32 BBs in 72.2 innings for a 3.72 ERA ... Allowed 9 of 38 inherited runners to score (23.7 percent).
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday (G1): RHP Ryan Askew (3-0, 3.12 ERA) vs. LHP Jake Agnos (0-0, 0.60 ERA)
Friday (G2): LHP Austin Cox (1-1, 6.62 ERA) vs. RHP Trey Benton (2-0, 1.45 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Chase Burks (0-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. LHP Jacob Wolfe (2-0, 3.32 ERA)
CEREMONIAL FIRST PITCHES
Friday (G2): East Carolina All-America and record-breaking wide receiver Zay Jones (approximately 7:30 p.m.)
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 91-49-1 (.649) 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.
