East Carolina University
Illinois State
No. 9 ECU Plays Host To Illinois State
March 19, 2021 | Baseball
| Games: 17-19 | |
| Dates: | March 19-21, 2021 |
| Times: | 6:30 p.m. /// 4 p.m. /// 11:30 a.m. (ET) |
| Location: | Greenville, N.C. (Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium) |
| Game Program: | Baseball Gameday #3 |
| Live Game Coverage: | Radio: 94.3 FM The Game Friday (ESPN+), Saturday (ESPN+), Sunday (ESPN+) TuneIn Radio: Online (Learfield/IMG College) |
| Internet Options | Live Stats: All Weekend |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | Illinois State |
| Game Notes | East Carolina | Illinois State | American |
| 2021 Statistics | East Carolina | Illinois State |
| Baseball Central | Roster | Schedule/Results | NCAA Baseball | College Scoreboard | Weekly Rankings | National Stat Leaders |
| Social Media | ECUBaseball | The American |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – No. 9 East Carolina (13-3) returns home for a three-game weekend series against Illinois State (5-9). First pitch of the set is slated for Friday, March 19 at 6:30 p.m. (ET) at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium.
The Pirates, who have made 30 NCAA Regional appearances, enters the series having won eight of its last 10 games including six-straight at home and ranked in the Top 10 in all six major collegiate polls. ECU returns return 27 players from last year's club including American Athletic All-Conference performers Tyler Smith (2018) and Jake Kuchmaner (2019), as well as Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America selection C.J. Mayhue (2020). In all, the roster consists of 22 freshmen, six sophomores, nine juniors and three seniors.
Also stepping onto the diamond are 12 newcomers in Danny Beal (RHP), Joey Berini (INF), CJ Boyd (1B/RHP), Garrett Chandler (OF), Cam Clonch (OF/1B/RHP), Landon Ginn (RHP), Josh Grosz (RHP), Ryley Johnson (OF), Josh Moylan (1B), Joey Rezek (OF/C), Austin St. Laurent (INF/RHP) and Jacob Starling (INF/OF).
2021 TEAM QUICK HITS
- Mustache March is here! East Carolina, Memphis and Michigan's baseball teams are raising money to help #StrikeOutALS. Donate here!
- ECU opened up its 87th season of collegiate baseball (1932-42, 1946-present) with a three-game sweep of Rhode Island (Feb. 19-21).
- The Pirates have made a regional appearance in 16 of the last 21 seasons, including four of five under Godwin (2015, '16, '18, '19) - no post-season in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
- Heading into this weeks action, ECU has been ranked or received votes in at least one national poll for 47-straight weeks (began in 2018 preseason).
- The Pirates led the nation (2020) in fielding percentage (.990) and sac bunts (23) ... They also finished in the top 10 in batting average (.317) and hits (183).
- This season the Pirates have fanned 172 batters in 16 games (19.75 kpg) and last year averaged 10.1 per contest (171 Ks in 17 games).
- ECU has five two-way players on its roster ... Dubbed #2WayU by Godwin, the five players are Zach Agnos, Skylar Brooks, Cam Clonch, Ryder Giles and Austin St. Laurent.
- The Pirates enter this week as a consensus Top 10 team for the sixth time under Godwin ... Back in 2019, five of the final six weeks leading up to the Super Regional's, they garnered at Top 10 designation in all six major collegiate baseball polls.
INDIVIDUAL QUICK HITS
- Seventh-year head coach Cliff Godwin stands third on ECU's all-time wins list with 227 victories ... He passed his college coach and ECU Hall of Famer Keith LeClair (212) on March 8, 2020 with a 4-1 win at Charlotte in the series finale ... Heading into the season, he stood 15th in win percentage among active NCAA DI head coaches (page 10, bio on page 5).
- Dating back to 2020, Jake Kuchmaner has won six of his last eight starts posting a 6-0 record ... In 2019 he tossed the 31st perfect game in NCAA DI history at Maryland on March 17.
- Seth Caddell is tied for the team lead in home runs (6) and stands second in RBI (17).
- Connor Norby was named AAC Player-of-the-Week (March 15) after hitting three home runs, tallying three multi-hit games and collecting three game-winning RBI during the Pirates 4-0 week ... He is a two-time AAC Honor Roll selection and currently owns a 23-game on-base streak heading into this weekends action ... Currently leads the nation in hits (32) , eighth in hits per game (2.00), 15th in home runs (6), 17th in batting average (.478), 32nd in slugging percentage and 33rd in RBI.
- Freshman Carson Whisenhunt earned AAC Pitcher-of-the-Week honors (March 15) after tossing a career-best seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts in ECU's series clinching win against Charlotte ... In four outings he has fanned 36 batters to lead the conference and rank fifth nationally ... He has struck out multiple batters in an inning 14 times thus far ... Became the first pitcher since Brooks Jernigan (1998) to record double-digit strikeouts in consecutive games ... His 11 punch outs is tied for third all-time among freshman hurlers in a single-game ... He is a two-time AAC Honor Roll selection, named a Collegiate Baseball National Player-of-the-Week on Feb. 22 and picked up NCBWA National Pitcher-of-the-Month accolades on March 3.
- C.J. Mayhue, a NCBWA Stopper-of-the-Year Watch List candidate, earned his third save of the season against Charlotte (March 13) ... On the season he owns a 1-1 record in nine outings with 21 strikeouts to five walks ... In two games vs. Duke this year he is 1-0 with a save and has tossed 7.1 scoreless frames with 10 strikeouts.
- Thomas Francisco had his 12-game hit streak come to an end in the series finale against Charlotte (ended at 14 games), however he has reached base safely in all 15 games this season heading into Wednesday's game at UNCW ... Hit his first home run in over a year against then No. 25 Duke (Feb. 23) which was a three-run shot to right field in the seventh inning.
- Seniors Matt Bridges and Cam Colmore return for their sixth year ... Combined, they have appeared in 136 games, with an 12-4 record, eight saves with 177 Ks in 180.0 IPs.
- Junior Gavin Williams has appeared in two games (both in relief) where he is 1-0 with a save ... The right-hander has allowed two runs in 8.2 innings with 11 strikeouts to three walks.
PROBABLE STARTERS (2021 stats)
Friday: (LH) Colton Johnson (0-0, 1.33 ERA) vs. (RH) Gavin Williams (1-0, 2.08 ERA)
Saturday: (RH) Jordan Lussier (2-1, 4.76 ERA) vs. (LH) Jake Kuchmaner (2-0, 4.26 ERA)
Sunday: (LH) Sean Sinisko (1-2, 5.65 ERA) vs. (LH) Carson Whisenhunt (3-0, 1.19)
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 seven 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 227-116-1 (.661) overall record … Ten players have earned All-America status, while 10 were NCAA All-Regional selections, 16 were named all-conference (15 first-teamers) and 14 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.
