East Carolina University
Wichita State
Gameday: No. 8 ECU Squares Off Against Wichita State
May 10, 2019 | Baseball
| No. 8 ECU at Wichita State (Games 49-51) | |
| Dates: | May 10-12, 2019 |
| Time: | 7 p.m. \\\ 3 p.m. \\\ 2 p.m. (ET) |
| Location: | Wichita, KS (Eck Stadium) |
| Tickets: | Buy Tickets |
| Live Game Coverage: | Radio: 94.3 FM The Game Watch Friday | Watch Saturday | Watch Sunday TuneIn Radio: Online (Pirate IMG Sports Network) |
| Internet Options: | Live Stats: Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Official Web Sites: | ECU | Wichita State |
| Game Notes: | ECU (PDF) | Wichita State (PDF) | The American (PDF) |
| 2019 Statistics: | ECU | Wichita State |
| Baseball Central: | Roster | Schedule/Results | NCAA Baseball | College Scoreboard |
| Social Media: | ECUBaseball | The American #ECUPirates | #ECUBaseball | #AmericanRising |
WICHITA, KS. – No. 8 ECU will close out its seven-game road trip raveling to Wichita State for a three-game American Athletic Conference series. First pitch of the weekend is set for 7 p.m. (ET) at Eck Stadium.
ONE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
ECU is on the brink of claiming its first AAC regular season title when it squares off against Wichita State this weekend … The Pirates magic number is one, meaning a win over the Shockers or a Tulane loss at Houston and they will secure the league crown and the top seed at the 2019 AAC Championships … It would be ECU's first regular season title since the 2009 club won the Conference USA regular season title.
NEARLY $11,000 RAISED FOR 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 four-year total to $43,492 in donations.
• This year, ECU teamed up with the Memphis and Michigan baseball clubs to raise $10,836 for ALS.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAME
• ECU (37-11, 16-2) comes in to the matchup having won four-straight games (12 of its last 13) which includes an AAC series win at Cincinnati and a midweek contest at No. 12 UNC … The series between the two clubs are tied at two-all with the Pirates claiming a series win last year in Greenville … Both teams first met on the diamond back in 1991 with the Shockers coming away with a 10-5 victory in the NCAA Midwest Regional … ECU owns a .294 batting average (31st nationally) with 49 home runs, 469 hits (144 for extra bases) with 315 runs to rank among the conference leaders … ECU is averaging 6.5 runs per game, while surrendering 3.8 rpg … The Pirates pitching staff owns a 3.43 ERA (15th nationally) with 456 strikeouts (first in the AAC).
• Wichita State (22-26 (6-12) enters the series having lost seven of its last nine games, but is riding a two-game winning streak … The Shockers are hitting at a .271 clip with 37 home runs 450 hits (134 for extra bases) and has scored 278 runs … They own a 5.64 ERA with 365 punch outs.
PIRATE QUICK HITS (prior to game)
• Jake Agnos struck out a career-high 14 batters in a personal-best 8.2 innings against No. 18 UConn ... Recorded at least eight strikeouts in 11-straight games (double-digit four times) ... Three-time AAC Pitcher-of-the-Week selections (2/25, 4/1, 4/22) ... Named Collegiate Baseball National Player-of-the-Week (4/22) ... Stands eighth nationally in strikeouts (108) and seventh in strikeouts per nine innings (13.69) ... Tallied six quality starts on the year ... Fanned 258 career batters, which stands fourth all-time in the AAC and ninth at ECU ... Played for Team USA (Collegiate National Team) in Summer of '18.
• Jake Kuchmaner tossed 28th perfect game in NCAA DI history at Maryland (3/17) ... Swept league and national honors in consecutive weeks (3/11 & 3/18) ... Ranks 13th nationally in WHIP (0.89) and 11th in hits allowed per game (5.13) ... Named to AAC Honor Roll (4/29) after working 8.2 innings against Tulane ... Has worked into the ninth inning three times this season ... Fanned career-high nine batters at No. 9 Ole Miss ... Registered three career quality starts.
• Tyler Smith is one of two Pirate pitchers with six or more wins on the season (6-0) ... Tied for 24th nationally in starts ... Earned wins over Western Carolina, Maryland, USF, Houston, UConn and Cincinnati ... Sports a 15-1 career record ... Registered sixth career quality start at Cincinnati (2019) ... Fanned career-high eight batters at Cincinnati (2019).
• Alec Burleson owns a 5-1 record on the mound this season in 17 appearances (six starts) with a 3.35 ERA ... Earned his 10th career win at No. 12 UNC ... Registered career-high 10 batters vs. Monmouth earlier in the season and has 47 punch outs to 16 walks in 43.0 innings ... At the plate, he stands 13th nationally in doubles (19) and sixth in sac flies (seven) ... Owns a .370 batting average with six home runs, 40 RBI and 26 runs ... Tallied a team-high 22 multi-hit games, while posting a team second-best 10 multi-RBI contests ... Named to a pair of Midseason All-America Teams (D1Baseball, Perfect Game) as a utility player ... Two-time AAC Player-of-the-Week honoree, while also being tabbed Perfect Game National Player-of-the-Week on Feb. 25 ... Two-time AAC Honor Roll selection (2/18, 4/1).
• Gavin Williams has appeared in 28 career games making four starts ... Has worked out of the bullpen in his last nine outings (UCF, USF, HOU, UCLA, UCONN, ODU, Tulane, CIN, UNC) tossing 20.1 innings where he has allowed six runs (five earned) on 12 hits with six walks and 23 strikeouts ... In last start at No. 24 Duke, he gave up five runs in the first inning before exiting the game ... Tallied six or more strikeouts in a game three times with career-high 8 at USF.
• Spencer Brickhouse earned AAC Player-of-the-Week honors on March 25 ... Currently batting .351 with 12 home runs, 47 RBI ... Hit a pair of home runs (3-run, 2-run) in series finale vs. No. 18 UConn where he drove in five ... Drew five walks in UCLA series pushing his season total to 24 (team leader) ... Also hit a pair of HRs at Houston in Game 1 of a doubleheader (2-run, grand slam) ... Owns a .316 career batting average with 32 home runs and 125 RBI ... Has 14 career GW RBI (7 in 2019).
• Bryant Packard leads the team in batting (.376) ... Second on the club with 19 multi-hit contests ... Earned AAC Player-of-the-Week honors (4/29) ... Hit grand slams in consecutive games at USF ... Tallied a pair of game-winning RBI at USF (11 career) ... 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 ... Owns a .365 career batting average with 21 home runs, 95 RBI and 111 runs.
• Brady Lloyd is second on the team lead with 5 GW RBI this season (2 vs. Marist) ... Batting .234 with one home run, 19 RBI and 23 runs ... Tied for second on the club with five stolen bases ... Tallied 14 sacrifices (13 sac hits ranking third nationally) ... Has been hit by a pitch 11 times in '19 (20 career).
• Jake Washer named to 2019 Buster Posey Watch List ... '18 Bench Award Semifinalist ... Hit home runs in consecutive games at Houston ... Belted first career grand slam at No. 12 UNC (5/8) ... Tied his career-high with four RBI against the Tar Heels (other was vs. UNC in 2018) ... Tallied 15 career home runs with 78 RBI ... Started 41 games in 2019 (35/catcher, 6/DH) ... Named to AAC Honor Roll (4/22) for first time in career.
• Turner Brown tied ECU single-game record with two triples vs. Marist (3/10) ... Named to AAC Honor Roll (3/11) ... ECU's all-time leader with 54 sacrifices ... Ranks third in assists (566) and fifth in hit by pitches (33) ... Registered 14 career game-winning RBI (8 in 2018).
• ECU's pitching staff sports a 3.43 ERA (15th nationally) with six shutouts (fifth nationally) ... The starters own a 3.43 ERA allowing 102 runs (93 earned) with 257 strikeouts to 84 walks ... The bullpen has surrendered 82 runs (70 earned) with 199 punch outs and 57 walks in 183.1 innings for a 3.44 ERA ... They have allowed 30 of 102 inherited runners to score on the year (29.4 pct.).
PROBABLE STARTERS (2019 stats)
Friday: LHP Jake Agnos (7-2, 2.41 ERA) vs. RHP Liam Eddy (4-6, 4.90 ERA)
Saturday: LHP Jake Kuchmaner (5-1, 2.30 ERA) vs. RHP Clayton McGinness (4-4, 4.88 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Tyler Smith (6-0, 5.04 ERA) vs. RH Connery Peters (1-1, 4.58 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 191-102-1 (.651) overall record, which stands fourth all-time among ECU head coaches … 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 (46-16 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.
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