East Carolina University
Houston
Gameday: ECU Faces Houston In AAC Championship Game
May 27, 2017 | Baseball
| No. 2 Houston vs. 8 East Carolina (Game 60) | |
| Date | May 28, 2017 |
| Time | 12:03 p.m. (ET) |
| Location | Clearwater, Fla. (Spectrum Field) |
| Tickets | Buy Tickets |
| Live Game Coverage | Radio: WNCT 1070 AM ESPNews (Sunday) TuneIn Radio: Online (Pirate IMG Sports Network) |
| Internet Options | Live Stats: All Week |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | Houston |
| Game Notes | East Carolina (PDF) | Houston (PDF) | The American (PDF) |
| 2017 Statistics | East Carolina | Houston | 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 |
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Eighth seed East Carolina (32-27) will square off against No. 2 seed Houston (39-19) on Sunday, May 28 in the 2017 American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship at Spectrum Field with the winner gaining the leagues automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. First pitch is scheduled for 12:03 p.m. (ET) and will be televised nationally on ESPNews.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAME
• East Carolina and Houston will meet for the fourth time this season 55th overall … Houston holds a narrow lead in the all-time series at 27-26-1 and have won four-straight dating back to 2016 … ECU and Houston will also meet for the second time in the AAC Championship Game with the Pirates taking the 2015 title with a 9-1 victory in Clearwater, Fla.
• 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)
• Evan Kruczynski will get the start against top-seed UCF on Tuesday ... The lefty earned AAC Pitcher-of-the-Week honors (4/24) after tossing 8 shutout innings at Cincinnati where he allowed one hit and retired 22-straight in a 6-0 win ... Has tallied 27 career quality starts in 44 career starts ... Owns an 19-7 career record with a 3.01 ERA.
• Trey Benton lasted 3.1 innings against No. 25 USF in game two of the AAC Championships surrendering two runs (one earned) on three hits with four strikeouts … Has posted a 3-4 record (0-4 in AAC) with a 4.26 ERA in 13 starts ... He has fanned 74 batters (9th in AAC) while walking 19 in 71.0 innings pitched ... Struck out a career-high 10 batters against La Salle and Towson ... Has five quality starts.
• Jake Agnos tossed seven scoreless innings against UCF on Saturday pushing ECU into the AAC Championship Game for the second time in three years … The lefty improved to 3-3 on the season allowing two hits and striking out six … He has appeared in 16 (10 starts) during his freshman season ... Picked up first win in AAC play against Tulane striking out 10 in a career-high 7.1 innings ... Notched first collegiate win against Towson ... Fanned a career-best 11 in five frames vs. WCU (3/3) - all coming in relief.
• Charlie Yorgen was a unanimous First-Team All-AAC selection during senior season ... Saw his 190-game starting streak snapped vs. Towson (March 25) which started in 2014 ... Has hit five home runs on the season (nine career) - with his last hit (home run) at Clark-LeClair coming in final at-bat (3-run shot) ... Hit first career grand slam against UCF (4/13) ... His homer vs. the 49ers was a 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) ... Earned American Hitter-of-the-Week and College Sports Madness Player-of-the-Week honors on April 24 ... Reached base six times at UNCW (4/18) - 5 hits, 1 walk.
• Spencer Brickhouse enters the game batting .311 ... Team co-leader in HRs (10) ... Hit multiple home runs in two game (CofC, Memphis) ... Had three home runs in two game set at CofC including his first multi-HR game on March 8 (consecutive at-bats) ... Belted first home run in first collegiate game at Ole Miss (2/17) ... Tallied three game-winning RBI (ASU, CofC, CIN).
• Travis Watkins earned First-Team All-AAC honors as a senior and is currently batting .346 to lead the club ... Also team leader in hits (84), RBI (49), runs (47) and co-leader in home runs (10) ... Three of 10 homers have been grand slams (five of 20 career HRs were grand slams) ... Hit two home runs vs. Campbell on Senior Night ... The five-time Johnny Bench Award Watch List candidate (2013-17) has thrown out 11 of 32 runners on the season ... Three-time team captain and three-time Bench Award semifinalist (2015-17).
• Eric Tyler was named First-Team All-AAC as a senior and ranks third on the team with a .340 average ... His 81 hits are two behind Watkins ... Had 39-game on-base streak snapped at UConn (5/18) ... Recorded at least one hit in 48 of 59 games (multiple 26 times) ... Had career-best 12-game hit streak snapped against UCONN (Mar. 31) ... Named AAC Hitter-of-the-Week on May 1.
• Luke Bolka is third on the team with eight home runs and is fourth with 30 RBI ... Hit home runs in consecutive games (at Houston/vs. UNCW) ... Tallied a team-best six game-winning RBI ... Has 13 career home runs.
• Dwanya Williams-Sutton has hit seven home runs and is batting .284 in 31 games ... Hit two home runs vs. Liberty ... Added two home runs in USF series (both two-run shots, which came in consecutive games) ... For his career he is batting .334 with 12 home runs, 42 RBI and 31 XBHs.
• Prior to start of the tournament - ECU's starting pitching sports a 4.09 ERA ... Allowed 140 runs (121 earned) with 223 Ks to 81 BBs in 266.1 innings while holding opposing hitters to a .255 clip ...The bullpen has surrendered 149 runs (124 earned) with 211 Ks to 110 BBs in 234.0 innings for a 4.77 ERA and opposing hitters are batting .264 ... Allowed 59 of 136 inherited runners to score (43.4 percent).
PROBABLE STARTERS
Sunday: LHP John King (6-1, 3.28 ERA) vs. LHP Evan Kruczynski (4-2, 4.47 ERA)
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 110-72-1 (.604) 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.
