Gameday: No. 11 ECU Hosts Radford In Season Opener
February 14, 2019 | Baseball
| Radford at ECU (Games 1-3) | |
| Dates: | Feb. 15-17, 2019 |
| Times: | 2 p.m. (DH) \\\ TBA (ET) |
| Location: | Greenville, N.C.(Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium) |
| 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 | Radford |
| Game Notes: | ECU (PDF) | Radford (PDF) | The American (PDF) |
| 2018 Statistics: | ECU | Radford |
| Baseball Central: | Roster | Schedule/Results | NCAA Baseball | College Scoreboard |
| Social Media | ECUBaseball | The American | #ECUPirates | #ECUBaseball | #AmericanRising |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – No. 11 ECU opens the 2019 season on Friday, Feb. 15 when plays host to Radford in a doubleheader at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium. First pitch of the series is slated for 2 p.m. (ET) with game two starting approximately 45 minutes at the conclusion of the season opener.
Under the direction of fifth-year head coach, the Pirates return 23 letterwinners, ncluding USA Collegiate National Team members Jake Agnos and All-American Bryant Packard, 2018 American Athletic Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player Spencer Brickhouse (2017), Freshman All-America selection Alec Burleson (2018), 2018 All-AAC performers Brady Lloyd and Tyler Smith, as well as 2018 AAC All-Tournament honorees Turner Brown and Jake Kuchmaner.
Also stepping onto the diamond are 10 newcomers, which features five position players, three pitchers and a pair of two-way players. The 2018-19 recruiting class consists of two infielders (Thomas Francisco and Ryder Giles), three outfielders (Lane Hoover, Christian Jayne and Christian Smallwood), a pair of two-way players (Connor Norby and Stephen Wilmer) and three pitchers (Evan Odum, Garrett Saylor and Carter Spivey). In all, the roster consists of eight freshmen, seven sophomores, 10 juniors and seven seniors.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE WEEKEND
• ECU and Radford have played 22 times with the Pirates holding a commanding 19-3 record … The two clubs last played in 2007 with the Pirates walking away with a 16-3 victory.
PIRATE QUICK HITS (prior to series)
• Alec Burleson named the starter for Opening Day ... Appeared in 19 games making eight starts ... Named AAC Freshman Pitcher-of-the-Year and a First-Team Collegiate Baseball All-American ... Tossed career-high 7.1 innings with seven strikeouts in his first career quality start at Tulane (2018) ... Fanned multiple batters in a game 13 times ... One of the top two-way players in the country ... At the plate, batted .252 with 18 RBI with 13 runs scored ... Was a First-Team Summer Collegiate All-American ... Named Most Outstanding Player of the Cal Ripken League after batting .383 with 10 home runs and posted a 3-1 record with a minuscule 0.34 ERA.
• Jake Agnos will start game two against Radford ... Named preseason All-AAC by the leagues head coaches ... Played for Team USA (Collegiate National Team) ... Set AAC Tournament record with nine strikeouts vs. UCONN in the 2018 title game ... Owns a 7-7 career record with a 3.66 ERA.
• Tyler Smith is set to pitch game three of the series ... Named preseason All-AAC by the leagues head coaches ... Earned second-team All-AAC honors in 2018 after going 7-1 with one save ... Tallied three quality starts (first career at Charlotte '18) ... Fanned career-high seven vs. UMD.
• Trey Benton will open the season coming out of the bullpen ... Appeared in 36 career games making 23 starts ... Owns a 7-9 record with a 3.66 ERA in 140.0 innings ... Struck out a career-high 11 batters (six innings) against UNC in 2018 ... Tallied nine career quality starts.
• Bryant Packard named to a program-best seven All-America teams in 2018 where he batted .406 (second in D1) ... Earned AAC Player-of-the-Year honors a year ago ... Heads into junior campaign having hit 15 home runs with 62 RBI and a .360 average ... Spent summer of 2018 playing for Team USA (Collegiate National Team) ... Named to five preseason All-America teams (four first-team), Golden Spikes Award Watch List and preseason AAC Player-of-the-Year ... Set school record with a hit in 32-straight games that ended on May 22 ... During the streak is batting .459 (61-for-133) with 13 HRs, 10 2Bs, 33 RBI, 37 Rs, 19 multi-hit Gs and 21 XBHs ... Belted a career-best two home runs in a game three time (Wash, USF, UCONN) - all three coming in consecutive at-bats ... Smacked five leadoff home runs (first inning), which was tied for the national lead in 2018.
• Spencer Brickhouse named Most Outstanding Player at the AAC Championships ... Picked up first-team all-conference honors as a DH ... Registered at least one hit in 44 of 59 games (multiple 20 times) ... Drove in career-best six runs against Cincinnati (2018) ... Has seven career game-winning RBI (three in 2018) ... Named CCBL All-Star Game MVP.
• Brady Lloyd named first-team all-conference ... Stood third on the team in hits (69) and runs (41) ... Second in stolen bases (16) ... Went 5-or-5 with 5 runs against UMD (3/17).
• Jake Washer named 2018 Johnny Bench Award Semifinalist ... Preseason All-AAC selection by the leagues head coaches ... Bench Award candidate in 2019 ... Tied for sixth on the team with 14 multi-hit games, while ranking fourth with multi-RBI games (9).
• Turner Brown enters his senior season having played in 170 career games (166 starts) ... Is ECU's all-time leader with 42 sacrifices and stands seventh on the all-time assists list (456) ... Tied for the team lead with eight game-winning RBI in 2018 with Packard.
• In 2018, ECU's pitching staff sported a 3.41 ERA which ranked 17th nationally ... The starters sported a 3.43 ERA allowing 128 Rs (111 ERs) with 251 Ks to 80 BBs ... The bullpen surrendered 112 Rs (97 ERs) with 230 Ks and 90 BBs in 257.2 innings for a 3.39 ERA.
PROBABLE STARTERS (2018 stats)
Friday (G1): LHP Zack Ridgely vs. LHP Alec Burleson (5-2, 3.33 ERA)
Friday (G2): LHP Hunter Williams (1-4, 4.71 ERA) vs. LHP Jake Agnos (4-4, 4.10 ERA)
Saturday/Sunday: RHP Cole Dunn vs. RHP Tyler Smith (7-1, 1.78 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 10 NCAA Regional and two College World Series teams at the Division I level as an assistant coach and head coach … During his four years at the helm of the program, Godwin has guided ECU to three NCAA Regional berths (2018 Greenville Regional host), a Super Regional appearance, two American Athletic Conference Tournament titles and a 154-91-1 (.628) overall record … Eight players have earned All-America status, seven were NCAA All-Regional selections, 12 were named all-conference (11 first-teamers), while six 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 … Recently he completed a summer stint on the 2018 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team staff that posted a 12-3 record that included series wins over Chinese Taipei, Japan and Cuba … 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.
