East Carolina University
UCF
Gameday: No. 17 ECU Opens AAC Play At No. 20 UCF
March 22, 2018 | Baseball
| No. 18 ECU at No. 20 UCF (Games 21-23) | |
| Dates | March 23-25, 2018 |
| Times | 6:30 p.m. \\\ 6:30 p.m. \\\ 1 p.m. (ET) |
| Location | Orlando, Fla. (John Euliano Park) |
| Tickets | Buy Tickets |
| Live Game Coverage | Radio: 94.3 FM The Game Watch Live (All Weekend) TuneIn Radio: Online (Pirate IMG Sports Network) |
| Internet Options | Live Stats: All Weekend |
| Official Web Sites | ECU | UCF |
| Game Notes | ECU (PDF) | UCF (PDF) | The American (PDF) |
| 2018 Statistics | ECU | UCF | The American |
| Baseball Central | Roster | Schedule/Results | Fact Book (PDF) | The American | NCAA Baseball | College Scoreboard |
| Social Media | ECUScoreboard (in-game updates) | ECUBaseball | The American #ECUPirates | #ECUBaseball |
ORLANDO, Fla. – No. 17 ECU opens up American Athletic Conference play with a three-game road trip at defending AAC and No. 20 UCF. The three-game tilt is scheduled to begin Friday, March 23 at John Euliano Park with a 6:30 p.m. (ET) scheduled first pitch.
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 15th-Annual Keith LeClair Classic (Mar. 2-4) members of the local ALS Chapter will be 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. This year ECU will team up with the Memphis baseball program to help fight and strikeout ALS with a goal of raising $7,500. For more information about Mustache March, please click on this link.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS SERIES
• ECU (16-4) owns a 31-13 all-time record against UCF (17-6) … The Pirates won their last two meetings against the Nights with both coming in the 2017 AAC Championships … UCF swept ECU a year ago during regular season action at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium.
• ECU went 4-1 losing to VCU (3-0) before reeling off four-straight wins over Elon (2-1) and Maryland (4-0, 18-4 and 4-0) … For the first time this season, the Pirates come into this week's play ranked in all six national polls: D1 Baseball (No. 18), NCBWA (No. 18), USA Today/Coaches (No. 18), Baseball America (No. 21), Perfect Game (No. 25) and Collegiate Baseball (No. 29).
PIRATE QUICK HITS (prior to weekend)
• Trey Benton earned AAC Pitcher-of-the-Week honors (Feb. 26) ... Has tallied four quality starts ... Stands fifth nationally in K-to-BB ratio (18.00), ninth in BBs Per 9 Innings (0.56) and 10th in wins (4).
• Chris Holba is a two-time AAC Honor Member ... Tied for first nationally in wins (5) ... Also ranks among the national leaders in K-to-BB ratio (28th/8.75), ERA (32nd), BB's Per 9 Innings (50th/1.17) and strikeouts (81st/35) ... Surrendered first runs of the season at Charlotte (streak ended at 25.1 innings) ... Combined on a pair shutouts (UNC/Saint Joseph).
• Tyler Smith posted wins in consecutive starts (UNCC, UMD) and also registered a win in relief (WCU) ... Notched save vs. UNC ... Tallied first career quality start vs. the 49ers ... Stands fifth nationally in ERA, 27th in WHIP (0.81) and 45th in BB's Per 9 Innings (1.16) ... Fanned career-high seven vs. UMD.
• Spencer Brickhouse has registered at least one hit in 13 of 20 games ... Team leader with four home runs after hitting a two-run shot at Charlotte in game two of a doubleheader (3/10) ... Also has homers against WCU (2) and UNC (1) ... Collected four hits and had four RBI in the three-game tilt against the Tar Heels ... Had 27-game on-base streak snapped vs. CofC (3/7) ... Has five career game-winning RBI (one in 2018).
• Turner Brown stands third on the team with 11 RBI (four GW-RBI) ... Tied for fourth in runs (9) ... Belted first homer of season (sixth career) against UMD ... Has seven RBI in last five games.
• Connor Litton leads the team in hits (25), tied for first in multi-hit games (7), second in total bases (30) and is third in average (.333) ... Collected 6 hits in UNC series (two in each game).
• Brady Lloyd leads the team and ranks 17th nationally in batting average (.434), while also leading in runs (18) ... Tallied seven multi-hit games including going 5-for-5 with 5 runs against UMD (3/17) earning AAC Honor Roll accolades ... At Campbell, he drove in a career-best two runs and registered his second career game-winning RBI with a single in the third inning.
• Ryan Ross earned AAC Honor Roll honors (3/19) after picking up two saves in UMD series where he tossed 9.1 scoreless frames with 11 Ks and no BBs ... Has not allowed a run in last four outings (10.0 IP).
• Jake Washer is second on the team in average (3.85) and tied for first with seven multi-hit games ... Belted first home run at Charlotte (G2) - a solo shot ... Tallied career-best three hits vs. PEP and drove in a career-high 4 runs at UNC (Feb. 25).
• ECU's starting pitching is sporting a 2.15 ERA (5th nationally) ... They have allowed 29 Rs (24 ERs) with 100 Ks to 25 BBs ... The bullpen has allowed 27 Rs (19 ERs) with 65 Ks and 25 BBs in 79.0 innings for a 2.16 ERA ... The pen has allowed 20 inherited runners to score (20 of 60; 33.3 percent).
PROBABLE STARTERS (2018 stats)
Friday: RHP Trey Benton (4-1, 1.69 ERA) vs. LHP Joe Sheridan (2-1, 1.75 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Chris Holba (5-0, 1.17 ERA) vs. RHP Chris Williams (3-0, 1.16 ERA)
Sunday: TBA vs. RHP JJ Montgomery (2-0, 1.88 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 three years at the helm of the program, Godwin has guided ECU to a pair of NCAA Regional berths (2015-16), a Super Regional appearance (2016), an American Athletic Conference (2015) Tournament title and a 126-77-1 (.620) 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 three have been 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 … Recently he was named to the 2018 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team staff where he will serve as the third base and hitting coach … 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.
