East Carolina University
Indiana
No. 17 ECU Set To Host Keith LeClair Classic
February 27, 2020 | Baseball
| 17th Annual Keith LeClair Classic | |
| Dates | Feb. 28-March 1, 2020 |
| Times | 4:30 p.m. \\\ 4:30 p.m. \\\ 3:30 p.m. (ET) |
| Location | Greenville, N.C. (Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium) |
| Tickets & Parking | Buy Tickets | Parking |
| Live Game Coverage | Radio: 94.3 FM The Game Watch Live (All Weekend) TuneIn Radio: Online (Learfield/IMG College) |
| Internet Options | Live Stats: All Weekend |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | High Point | Indiana | Ole Miss |
| Game Notes | East Carolina | High Point | Indiana | Ole Miss | The American |
| 2020 Statistics | East Carolina | High Point | Indiana | Ole Miss |
| Baseball Central | Roster | Schedule/Results | NCAA Baseball | College Scoreboard |
| Social Media | ECUBaseball | The American |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Seventh-ranked East Carolina will play host to the 17th Annual Keith LeClair Classic this weekend welcoming in High Point, Indiana and No. 13 Ole Miss. First pitch of the weekend is set for Friday, Feb. 28 at 12 noon (Ole Miss vs. High Point), while the Pirates will play at 4:30 p.m. against Indiana.
KEITH LeCLAIR CLASSIC SCHEDULE
Friday, Feb. 28, 2020
Game 1: Ole Miss 6, High Point 2 (Final)
Game 2: Indiana 11, East Carolina 5 (Final)
Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020
Game 1: Indiana 5, High Point 1 (Final)
Game 2: Ole Miss 2, East Carolina 1 (Final)
Sunday, March 1st, 2020
Game 1: Ole Miss 9, Indiana 5 (Final)
Game 2: East Carolina 13, High Point 1 (Final)
MUSTACHE MARCH GETS UNDERWAY FRIDAY
• Annually, for the past 17 seasons, East Carolina 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 Keith LeClair Classic as a starting point for our own fundraiser to help Strikeout ALS.
• For the fifth consecutive year, the ECU baseball team will be growing mustaches to raise money and awareness for ALS research. The Pirates will be teaming up with the Memphis and Michigan baseball programs as well as CoopStrong. Erik Bakich (Michigan Head Coach) and Cliff Godwin (ECU Head Coach) were teammates under Keith LeClair.
• CoopStrong is a non-profit organization formed to honor the memory of Nelson Cooper, a beloved husband, father, professor, and friend who passed away from ALS in May 2017. He has a special place in the ECU Baseball program being a professor to numerous of our players in his tenure as well as being close friends with Hall of Fame Head Coach Keith LeClair. CoopStrong keeps the memory and legacy of Dr. Nelson Cooper alive through scholarships awarded to Recreation Sciences students at East Carolina University.
• Last year, the Pirates along with the Tigers and Wolverines raised $10,836 for ALS research. 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 (including '19) to $43,492 in donations.
• Pirate fans wishing to donate can do so by clicking here.
THINGS TO KNOW
• ECU, who opened its 86th season of intercollegiate baseball on Feb. 14 against William & Mary, won the 1961 NAIA National Championship, have claimed 26 conference titles (14 regular season/12 tournament), made 30 NCAA Regionals and advanced to five Super Regionals (2001, 2004, 2009, 2016 and 2019).
• The Pirates have faced off against all three teams in this year's Keith LeClair Classic owning a 29-15 record against High Point, 1-0 versus Indiana and 1-3 versus Ole Miss.
2020 TEAM QUICK HITS
• ECU improved to 7-1 on the season following its first road win of the season at Elon ... With the win, the Pirates extended their win streak over the Phoenix to eight games.
• The Pirates enter the weekend having won 10-straight games at Clark-LeClair stadium, which is tied for the fourth-longest active streak it he county.
• ECU is ranked in all six major polls heading into the Keith LeClair Classic ... Including preseason, the Pirates have been ranked or received votes in at least one national poll for 39-straight weeks (began in 2018 preseason).
• Last week, the Pirates posted a 3-1 record on the week dropping a road game at Campbell (7-2) before sweeping the Eagles (3-0, 3-2, 10-2).
• The pitching staff has fanned 83 batters in eight contests (10.4 kpg) with a season-high 17 in the series finale against the Tribe - the most since 17 vs. UCF on March 22, 2019 ... ECU has fanned at least nine batters in a game six times.
• Offensively, the Pirates have outscored their opponents 45-21 and have tallied 76 hits (9.5 hpg).
• ECU's pitching staff sports a 2.47 ERA after eight games ... The starters own a 1.35 ERA allowing five runs (all earned) with 26 strikeouts to just six walks ... The bullpen has surrendered 16 runs (15 earned) with 57 punch outs and 23 walks in 39.2 innings for a 3.40 ERA ... They have allowed nine of 29 inherited runners to score on the year (28.6 pct).
• ECU has six two-way players on its roster this year with five already experiencing action ... Dubbed #2WayU by the head coach Cliff Godwin, the six players are Zach Agnos, Skylar Brooks, Alec Burleson, Ryder Giles, Connor Norby and Carson Whisenhunt.
• Giles became the first player in program history to make two relief appearances in the same game (2/16/20 vs. William & Mary) ... He entered in the seventh and got ECU out of a bases loaded jam with consecutive strikeouts ... Then exited in the eighth inning with runners on in favor of Agnos returning to shortstop, but later returned to strike out a Thomas Solomon (second time in the game) in the eighth with the bases loaded to escape the threat.
• ECU returns 18 lettermen from a year ago, while welcoming in 18 newcomers - half of its current 36-man roster.
• The Pirates' home schedule consists of 34 games including the 17th-Annual Keith LeClair Classic ... This year's Classic welcomes in High Point, Indiana and No. 13 Ole Miss ... Since 2004, ECU owns a 36-12 record in the classic and has claimed nine titles.
• The 2020 campaign features 17 games (10/home, 6/away, 1/neutral) against nine teams that earned a bid to the 2019 NCAA Regionals, 37 against squads with 30-plus wins (20 with 35-plus, four with 40 or more wins) and 10 contests versus six clubs that finished ranked or receiving votes in the final national polls.
• Sixth-year head coach Cliff Godwin is the only ECU skipper to take the Pirates to a pair of Super Regional appearances (2016, 2019).
• Godwin (208) is five wins away from passing Keith LeClair (212) for third place on ECU's all-time wins list.
INDIVIDUAL QUICK HITS (prior to weekend)
• Alec Burleson, who was named to five All-America teams in 2019, has earned inclusion on four teams heading into his junior campaign ... Named preseason AAC Player-of-the-Year accolades by leagues head coaches, Baseball America and D1Baseball ... Named to initial Golden Spikes Award and Stopper-of-the-Year Watch List ... Owns an 12-4 career record with nine saves in 45 appearances (19 starts) ... Can also play multiple positions (1B, RF, LF and DH) ... Sports a .331 career batting average with nine home runs and 83 RBI in 106 career games ... Allowed just one run over 15.0 innings with 13 strikeouts to one walk ... Named to AAC Honor Roll (2/24/20).
• Tyler Smith has allowed just one run over 9.2 innings with seven punch outs to four walks ... Owns a 17-2 record (.895 win percentage) with one save and 116 strikeouts in 188.0 innings (59 games/28 starts) ... Tallied six career quality starts.
• Jake Kuchmaner owns a 2-0 record in two starts ... Has not allowed a run in five innings while fanning four and walking one ... Sports a 13-2 career record with a 3.21 ERA ... Named AAC Preseason Pitcher-of-the-Year by the leagues head coaches ... Unanimous Preseason All-Conference selection ... Tossed 28th perfect game in NCAA D1 history at Maryland on March 17, 2019 ... Earned First-Team All-AAC honors as a sophomore ... Swept league and national honors in consecutive weeks (3/11/19 & 3/18/19) ... Registered four career quality starts.
• Bryson Worrell was named to AAC Honor Roll (2/24/20) after leading the team in eight offensive categories including hitting at a .583 (7-for-12) clip with a home run, 3 doubles, 4 RBI and reached base 11 times ... Entering the Keith LeClair Classic, he has homered in consecutive games (Georgia Southern/3-run and Elon/2-run) ... He has started all eight games in center field and is currently batting a team-best .444 (12-for-27) with three doubles, a pair of homers, eight RBI and walked five times ... Tallied four multi-hit and two multi-RBI games in 2020.
• Thomas Francisco named AAC Player-of-the-Week (see page 7) to open the 2020 season ... Currently he stands second on the team in average (.440), hits (11), RBI (seven) and tied for second in runs (five) ... A year ago, he was one of 11 players to appear in 50 or more games (56) … Tallied four multi-hit and two multi-RBI games in 2020.
• Freshman Zach Agnos has started eight games at third base this season ... He is tied for third on the club with four RBI ... On the mound he has worked 1.2 scoreless frames in a pair of appearances.
• Lane Hoover, who has started all eight games in right field, is batting .259 (7-for-27) with three RBI and has scored five runs ... In 2019, he was one of 11 players to appear in 50 or more games (54) during his true freshman season ... Recorded eight two-out RBI in his career.
• Cam Colmore tied his career-high with four shutout innings at Elon (2/25/20) ... He retired all 12 batters he faced with three strikeouts earning his first win of the season (fourth of his career) ... In four appearances, he has tossed seven scoreless frames allowing one hit with six punch outs to one walk.
• Freshman C.J. Mayhue stands second on the team with 10 strikeouts ... He has allowed one run (unearned) on three hits in seven innings (four games).
• Ryder Giles is tied for the team lead with two game-winning RBI (five for his career) ... Started seven games at shortstop where he is batting .273 (6-for-22) with two doubles, four RBI and scored three runs ... On the mound he has appeared in two games allowing two runs (both earned) on three hits with four strikeouts in 2.1 innings ... He has inherited nine runners without allowing a run.
• Seth Caddell has started all seven games played behind the plate ... Tallied second career game-winning RBI in 2020 season opener with a walk-off single in the 11th inning vs. William & Mary (other vs. Radford/2019) ... Currently batting .261 (6-for-23) with a pair of doubles, four RBI and has scored three runs ... Hit seven career home runs and driven in 30 in 79 games (48 starts).
PROBABLE STARTERS (2020 stats)
Friday: RHP Gabe Bierman (1-1, 2.31 ERA) vs. LHP Alec Burleson (1-0, 0.60 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Gunnar Hoglund (1-0, 2.38 ERA) vs. RHP Tyler Smith (1-0, 0.93 ERA)
Sunday: LHP Joe Johnson (1-0, 3.72 ERA) vs. LHP Jake Kuchmaner (2-0, 0.00 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 11 NCAA Regional and two College World Series teams at the Division I level as an assistant coach and head coach … During his five years at the helm of the program, Godwin has guided ECU to four NCAA Regional berths (2018 and 2019 Greenville Regional host), two Super Regional appearances, the 2019 American Athletic Conference Regular season title, a pair of AAC Tournament crowns and a 208-110-1 (.654) overall record … Ten players have earned All-America status, while 10 were NCAA All-Regional selections, 16 were named all-conference (15 first-teamers), while 13 were drafted by Major League Baseball teams … A two-time AAC Coach-of-the-Year selection (2015, 2019), Godwin was inducted into the George Whitfield Hall of Fame in January of 2016 … In 2018, he completed a summer stint on the 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.
