East Carolina University
Wichita State
Gameday: Top Seeded ECU Faces Houston In Elimination Game
May 21, 2019 | Baseball
| Houston vs. ECU (Game 57) | |
| Date: | May 22, 2019 |
| Times: | 3 p.m. (ET) |
| Location: | Clearwater, Fla. (Spectrum Field) |
| Live Game Coverage: | Radio: 94.3 FM The Game Watch Live TuneIn Radio: Online (Pirate IMG Sports Network) |
| Internet Options: | Live Stats: All Week |
| Official Web Sites: | ECU | Houston |
| Game Notes: | ECU (PDF) | Houston (PDF) | The American (PDF) |
| 2019 Statistics: | ECU | Houston |
| Baseball Central: | Roster | Schedule/Results | NCAA Baseball | College Scoreboard |
| Social Media: | ECUBaseball | The American #ECUPirates | #ECUBaseball | #AmericanRising |
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Seventh-ranked ECU will try to stave off elimination at the 2019 American Baseball Championships when it squares off against Houston on Wednesday, May 22 at 3 p.m. from Spectrum Field.
REGULAR SEASON AAC CHAMPIONS
ECU claimed its first regular season title in The American last Friday in a 6-1 win at Wichita State … The Pirates go a solid outing by Jake Agnos (7.0 IP, 0 Rs) on the mound, while Alec Burleson tallied three hits and plated four runs … The title was the first in regular season play since the 2009 club won the Conference USA crown.
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.
PIRATE QUICK HITS (prior to series)
• Jake Agnos named AAC Pitcher-of-the-Year and was a first-team selection ... Set the ECU and AAC single-season strikeout records against Memphis with his 10 punch-out performance (124 on the season) ... Owns a 31.0 scoreless inning streak heading into the AAC Championships ... Earned fourth AAC Pitcher-of-the-Week honor (5/20) - others were 2/25, 4/1 and 4/22 ... Struck out a career-high 14 batters in a personal-best 8.2 innings against No. 18 UConn ... Has five double-digit strikeout performances on the season (six in 13-straight) ... Named Collegiate Baseball National Player-of-the-Week (4/22) ... Ranks among the Top 10 nationally in strikeouts and strikeouts per nine innings ... Tallied seven quality starts on the year ... Fanned 274 career batters, which stands third all-time in the AAC and sixth at ECU ... Played for Team USA (Collegiate National Team) in Summer of '18 ... Named to 2019 Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-District 3 First-Team ... Semifinalist for 2019 College Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher-of-the-Year.
• Jake Kuchmaner earned First-Team All-AAC honors ... 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 20th nationally in WHIP (0.93) and 12th in hits allowed per game (5.40) ... 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 four career quality starts.
• Tyler Smith is one of two Pirates pitchers with seven or more wins on the season (7-1) ... Tied for 23rd nationally in starts ... Earned wins over Western Carolina, Maryland, USF, Houston, UConn, Cincinnati and Wichita State ... Sports a 16-2 career record ... Registered sixth career quality start at Cincinnati (2019) ... Fanned career-high eight batters at Cincinnati (2019).
• Alec Burleson named First-Team All-AAC as an outfielder and second-team as a utility player ... Owns a 5-1 record with five saves in 20 appearances (six starts) with a 3.18 ERA ... Earned his 10th career win at No. 12 UNC ... Registered career-high 10 batters vs. Monmouth earlier in the season and has 51 punch outs to 17 walks in 45.1 innings ... At the plate, he stands among the national leaders in doubles (20) and sac flies (eight) ... Owns a .368 batting average with eight home runs, 51 RBI and 33 runs ... Hit a pair of home runs (consecutive at-bats) against Memphis in series finale ... Tallied a team-high 25 multi-hit games, while posting a team second-best 13 multi-RBI contests ... Named to a pair of Midseason All-America Teams (D1Baseball, Perfect Game) as a utility player ... Three-time AAC Player-of-the-Week honoree ... Tabbed Perfect Game National Player-of-the-Week on Feb. 25 ... Two-time AAC Honor Roll selection (2/18, 4/1) ... Named to 2019 Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-District 3 First-Team ... Semifinalist for the 2019 John Olerud Two-Way National Player-of-the-Year.
• Gavin Williams has appeared in 31 career games making four starts ... Has worked out of the bullpen in his last 12 outings tossing 24.2 innings where he has allowed 12 runs (11 earned) on 17 hits with nine walks and 25 strikeouts ... Six or more strikeouts in a game three times with career-high 8 at USF.
• Spencer Brickhouse named First-Team All-AAC as a DH and second-team as a first baseman ... Earned AAC Player-of-the-Week honors on March 25 ... Currently batting .339 with 12 home runs, 51 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 ... Leads the club with 41 free passes ... Also hit a pair of HRs at Houston in Game 1 of a doubleheader (2-run, grand slam) ... Owns a .313 career batting average with 32 home runs and 129 RBI ... Has 14 career GW RBI (7 in 2019).
• Bryant Packard earned First-Team All-AAC honors for the second year (both unanimous selections) ... Second on the team in batting (.361) and multi-hit games (20) ... Has reached base in 32 consecutive contests heading into AAC Championships ... 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 .360 career batting average with 21 home runs, 97 RBI and 115 runs.
• Brady Lloyd is second on the with six GW RBI this season (2 vs. Marist) ... Batting .244 with one home run, 21 RBI and 29 runs ... Tied for second on the club with seven stolen bases ... Tallied 16 sacrifices (15 sac hits ranking second nationally) ... Has been hit by a pitch 12 times in '19 (21 career).
• Jake Washer named First-Team All-AAC ... 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 UNC and Memphis this season (other was vs. UNC in 2018) ... Tallied 16 career home runs with 83 RBI ... Started 46 games in 2019 (40/catcher, 6/DH) ... Named to AAC Honor Roll (4/22).
• Turner Brown earned Second-Team All-AAC selection ... 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 (577) and fifth in hit by pitches (36) ... Registered 14 career game-winning RBI (8 in 2018).
• ECU's pitching staff sports a 3.55 ERA (Top 10 nationally) with six shutouts (seventh nationally) ... The starters own a 3.29 ERA allowing 114 runs (103 earned) with 297 strikeouts to 101 walks ... The bullpen has surrendered 103 runs (90 earned) with 227 punch outs and 73 walks in 207.2 innings for a 3.90 ERA ... They have allowed 38 of 123 inherited runners to score on the year (30.9 pct.).
PROBABLE STARTERS (2019 stats)
Wednesday: LHP Jake Agnos (9-2, 2.06 ERA) vs. LHP Clay Aguilar (6-3, 2.81 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-plus 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, the 2019 AAC regular season crown and a 196-105-1 (.652) overall record, which stands fourth all-time among ECU head coaches … Eight players have earned All-America status, seven were NCAA All-Regional selections, 18 were named all-conference (17 first-teamers), while six were drafted by Major League Baseball teams … Named 2015 and 2018 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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