East Carolina University
UCF
No. 14 ECU Opens AAC Play Hosting UCF
March 21, 2019 | Baseball
| UCF at No. 14 ECU (Games 22-24) | |
| Dates: | March 22-24, 2019 |
| Times: | 6:35 p.m. \\\ 4 p.m. \\\ 12 Noon (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 (Friday on ADN) | Saturday/Sunday (ECUPirates.com) 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) |
| 2019 Statistics: | ECU | UCF |
| Baseball Central: | Roster | Schedule/Results | NCAA Baseball | College Scoreboard |
| Social Media: | ECUBaseball | The American #ECUPirates | #ECUBaseball | #AmericanRising |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – No. 14 ECU returns home and opens American Athletic Conference action in a three-game series against UCF. First pitch of the weekend is set for 6:35 p.m. (ET) on Friday and will be aired on the American Digital Network.
IT'S MUSTACHE MARCH
• Annually, for the past 16 seasons, ECU hosts the "Keith LeClair Classic" a tournament put together to bring awareness to ALS through the Jim "Catfish" Hunter chapter, which is located in Raleigh, N.C. The chapter finds the tournament as a way to continue awareness and fundraising in Coach LeClair's honor. The goal is to use the LeClair Classic as a starting point for our own fundraiser to help Strikeout ALS.
• In 2018, the ECU and Memphis baseball programs participated in "Mustache March" raising nearly $11,000 with donations going towards funding, supporting families and researching through local chapters. The past two seasons, ECU Dowdy Student Stores has donated $10,500 from t-shirt sales during the year and has pushed ECU's three-year total to $32,656 in donations.
• This year, ECU will team up with the Memphis and Michigan baseball clubs hoping to raise $10,000 in 2019 … Pirate fans wishing to donate can do so by clicking here.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE SERIES
• ECU (15-6) is coming off a weekend road sweep at Maryland … The Pirates allowed one run over the three-game set, which included a pair of shutouts … Jake Kuchmaner completed the series sweep tossing the 28th perfect game in NCAA DI history and first-ever at ECU … On the season, the Pirates are averaging 5.6 runs per game, while surrendering 3.9 rog … ECU is batting .287 on the year and has ranked up 202 hits, which ranks 44th nationally.
• UCF (15-6) enters the series having won five of its last six contests including a midweek win over nationally-ranked Florida State, 9-7 … The Knights are hitting at a .284 clip, while their pitching staff owns a 3.78 ERA.
• ECU and UCF have played 48 times with the Pirates holding a 34-14 edge in the all-time series … ECU enters the weekend having won three-straight in the series, which includes a win in the 2018 AAC Championships.
PIRATE QUICK HITS (prior to weekend)
• Alec Burleson ranks among the nation's leaders (Top 30) in sac flies (second), batting average (16), doubles (22), hits (30) ... Owns a .438 batting average with two home runs, 15 RBI, nine doubles, 10 runs scored ... Has tallied 32 hits, 10 multi-hit games and four multi-RBI contests ... Earned AAC Player-of-the-Week accolades, while also being tabbed Perfect Game National Player-of-the-Week on Feb. 25 ... On the mound, struck out a career-high 10 batters vs. Monmouth ... Appeared in six games (three starts) posting a 1-0 record with one save ... Sports a 2.35 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 23.0 innings ... Hit first collegiate home run at Campbell (other vs. Elon) ... Fanned multiple batters in a game 18 times (career).
• Jake Agnos has recorded at least seven strikeouts in four-straight outings ... Named AAC Pitcher-of-the-Week honors (Feb. 25) after tossing seven scoreless frames with 11 strikeouts against Monmouth ... Fanned 10 batters in seven scoreless innings against Marist (3/8) ... Played for Team USA (Collegiate National Team) in Summer of '18 ... Owns an 10-8 career record with a 3.37 ERA.
• Tyler Smith earned second win of the season (11th career) at Maryland ... Registered fifth career quality start vs. Terps ... Fanned career-high seven batters vs. UMD in 2018.
• Gavin Williams has appeared in 19 career games making four starts ... In last outing at No. 24 Duke, he gave up five runs in the first inning before exiting the game ... Worked career-high five innings against Elon and at No. 8 Mississippi State ... Owns a 1-2 record with a 3.23 ERA with 25 Ks in 30.2 career innings ... Notched first career win against Elon (2/27) where he allowed two runs and struck out six ... Career-best seven punch outs in first collegiate start at Campbell.
• Spencer Brickhouse is batting .373 on the season despite missing three games ... Ranks 29th nationally in on-base percentage ... Had 36-game on-base streak snapped at Campbell ... Belted three homers on the season (23 career) ... Has nine career game-winning RBI including (two in 2019) ... His homer against Radford in the series opener was his third-straight on Opening Day.
• Ryder Giles stands sixth in the nation with six sac bunts ... Started 17 games at third base where he is batting .229 with six RBI and nine runs ... Tallied three multi-hit, two multi-RBI games and has scored multiple runs in a contest twice.
• Jake Kuchmaner tossed 28th perfect game in NCAA DI history at Maryland (3/17) ... Two-time AAC Pitcher-of-the-Week, two-time Collegiate Baseball National Player-of-the-Week, two-time NCBWA National Pitcher-of-the-Week and two-time Perfect Game National Pitcher-of-the-Week selection ... In last three outings (at Ole Miss, at Duke and at Maryland) he has allowed three runs on only two hits over 23.1 innings with 23 strikeouts ... No-hit the Rebels through 8.2 innings ... Fanned career-high nine batters at No. 9 Ole Miss ... Registered three career quality starts.
• Trey Benton notched eighth career win, which came in relief against Radford ... In 19 career games out of the bullpen, he has allowed 10 runs (six earned) on 22 hits with 27 strikeouts and 13 walks in 29.1 frames ... Struck out a career-high 11 batters (six innings) against UNC in 2018 ... Tallied nine career quality starts.
• Bryant Packard returned to the starting lineup vs. Air Force (Feb. 25) after missing four games with an injury ... Batting .324 with two home runs, eight RBI and 16 runs scored ... Owns a career .354 batting average with 17 home runs and 70 RBI ... Named to five preseason All-America teams (four first-team), Golden Spikes Award Watch List and preseason AAC Player-of-the-Year in 2019 ... Set school record with a hit in 32-straight games ... Played for Team USA (Collegiate National Team) in Summer of '18 ... Hit five leadoff HRs (first inning), which was tied for the national lead in 2018.
• Brady Lloyd leads the team with three game-winning RBI (two in Marist series) ... Batting .262 with nine RBI and 10 runs ... Tied for the club lead in stolen bases (five) ... Owns a .304 career average ... Set career-highs vs. UMD (3/17/18) going 5-for-5 with 5 runs.
• Jake Washer named 2018 Johnny Bench Award Semifinalist ... Preseason All-AAC selection by the leagues head coaches ... Bench Award candidate in 2019 ... Has eight career home runs with 51 RBI ... Started 20 games in 2019 (16/catcher, 4/DH).
• Turner Brown tied ECU single-game record with two triples vs. Marist (3/10) ... Hit 10th career home run against the Red Foxes (3/9) ... Named to AAC Honor Roll (3/11) ... ECU's all-time leader with 46 sacrifices ... Ranks fifth in assists (503) and tied for sixth in hit by pitches (27) ... Registered 14 career game-winning RBI (8 in 2018).
• ECU's pitching staff sports a 3.26 ERA ... The starters own a 3.49 ERA allowing 48 runs (44 earned) with 111 strikeouts to 32 walks ... The bullpen has surrendered 34 runs (25 earned) with 83 punch outs and 23 walks in 77.0 innings for a 2.92 ERA ... They have allowed 15 of 36 inherited runners to score on the year (41.7 pct.).
PROBABLE STARTERS (2019 stats)
Friday: RHP Chris Williams (2-1, 4.76 ERA) vs. LHP Jake Agnos (3-1, 2.12 ERA)
Saturday: LHP Grant Schuermann (1-2, 2.17 ERA) vs. RHP Tyler Smith (2-0, 4.78 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Trevor Holloway (2-0, 1.37 ERA) vs. TBA
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 169-97-1 (.635) 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.
