East Carolina University
North Carolina
No. 8 ECU Travels To No. 24 UNC Tuesday
March 23, 2021 | Baseball
| Game: 20 | |
| Date: | March 23, 2021 |
| Time: | 6 p.m. (ET) |
| Location: | Chapel Hill, N.C. (Boshamer Stadium) |
| Game Program: | Baseball Gameday #3 |
| Live Game Coverage: | Radio: 94.3 FM The Game ACC Network (Tuesday) TuneIn Radio: Online (Learfield/IMG College) |
| Internet Options | Live Stats: Tuesday |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | UNC |
| Game Notes | East Carolina | UNC | American |
| 2021 Statistics | East Carolina | UNC |
| Baseball Central | Roster | Schedule/Results | NCAA Baseball | College Scoreboard | Weekly Rankings | National Stat Leaders |
| Social Media | ECUBaseball | The American |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – No. 8 East Carolina (16-3) is on the road again for a midweek tilt at No. 24 North Carolina (12-6). First pitch at Boshamer Stadium is slated for 6 p.m. (ET) Tuesday evening.
The Pirates, who have made 30 NCAA Regional appearances, owns a 2-2 midweek record and are 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 48-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).
- ECU currently ranks among the national leaders in home runs (11th/27), K-to-BB ratio (17th/3.45), stolen bases (23rd/28), ERA (30th/3.29), slugging percentage (31st/.467) and scoring (49th/7.1).
- This season the Pirates have fanned 207 batters in 19 games (10.9 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.
- For the second-straight week, the Pirates are as a consensus Top 10 team for the seventh 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 230 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).
- Tyler Smith, a 2018 all-conference performer, owns an 18-3 career record (85.7 win pct.) with one save in 65 games (34 starts) ... Tallied six career quality starts.
- Dating back to 2020, Jake Kuchmaner has won six of his last nine 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 leads the team in home runs (eight) and RBI (24) ... Nationally he ranks fifth in HRs and 14th in RBI.
- Connor Norby was named AAC Player-of-the-Week (March 15) ... He is a two-time AAC Honor Roll selection and currently owns a 26-game on-base streak heading into this weeks action ... Currently leads the nation in hits (36), eighth in hits per game (1.89), 28th in batting average (.450), 45th in slugging percentage (.750) and 63rd 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 five outings he has fanned 41 batters to lead the conference and rank 19th 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, has four saves on the season which stands 12th nationally ... Earned his fourth save on Sunday, March 21 working three scoreless innings againt Illinois State ... On the season he owns a 1-1 record in 11 outings with 26 strikeouts to six 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 19 games this season heading into Tuesday's game at UNC ... Hit a pair of home runs in the Pirates 4-3 extra-inning win vs. Illinois State ... Named to AAC Weekly Honor Roll on March 22.
- Seniors Matt Bridges and Cam Colmore return for their sixth year ... Combined, they have appeared in 139 games, with an 12-4 record, eight saves with 186 Ks in 184.2 IPs.
- Junior Gavin Williams made his first start of the season in the series opener against Illinois State working five innings where he allowed one run and struck out seven ... He owns a 1-0 record with a save in three appearances this season with a 1.32 ERA.
PROBABLE STARTERS (2021 stats)
Tuesday: (RH) Tyler Smith (0-0, 4.08 ERA) vs. (LH) Will Sandy (10-, 4.26 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 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 230-116-1 (.664) 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.
