East Carolina University
Appalachian State
No. 17 ECU Hosts App State In LeClair Classic
March 05, 2021 | Baseball
| Games: 9-11 | |
| Dates: | March 5-7, 2021 |
| Times: | 4 p.m. /// 2 p.m. /// 1 p.m. (ET) |
| Location: | Greenville, N.C. (Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium) |
| Game Program: | Baseball Gameday #2 |
| Live Game Coverage: | Radio: 94.3 FM The Game ESPN+ (Friday) | ESPN+ (Saturday) | ECUPirates.com (Sunday) TuneIn Radio: Online (Learfield/IMG College) |
| Internet Options | Live Stats: All Weekend |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | Appalachian State |
| Game Notes | East Carolina | Appalachian State | American |
| 2021 Statistics | East Carolina | Appalachian State |
| Baseball Central | Roster | Schedule/Results | NCAA Baseball | College Scoreboard | Weekly Rankings | National Stat Leaders |
| Social Media | ECUBaseball | The American |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – No. 17 East Carolina (6-2) continues its four-game home-stand this weekend hosting Appalachian State (6-2) for a three-game weekend series in the 18th Annual Keith LeClair Classic. First pitch of the weekend is set for Friday, March 5 at 4 p.m. (ET) at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium.
The Pirates, who have made 30 NCAA Regional appearances, has opened the season winning six of their first eight games which included a series sweep of Rhode Island and series win at Georgia Southern and a midweek victory against then No. 25 Duke. 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
- 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 45-straight weeks (began in 2018 preseason) ... See page 10 for 2021 preseason rankings.
- 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).
- For the third-straight year and fourth time since joining The American in 2015, ECU was picked to finish first in the 2021 preseason poll by the league's eight head coaches.
- This season the Pirates have fanned 97 batters in seven games (12.1 kpg) and last year averaged 10.1 per contest (171 Ks in 17 games) ... They have registered double-digit strikeouts in seven of eight contests including a season-high 18 at Georgia Southern (Feb. 28).
- Offensively, the Pirates have recorded double-digit hits in six-straight games heading into today's match-up against Old Dominion.
- Heading into the season, 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.
INDIVIDUAL QUICK HITS
- Seventh-year head coach Cliff Godwin stands third on ECU's all-time wins list with 220 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 his last five of his last six starts posting a 5-0 record ... In 2019 he tossed the 31st perfect game in NCAA DI history at Maryland on March 17 ... Tallied four career quality starts.
- Tyler Smith, a 2018 all-conference performer, owns an 18-3 career record (85.7 win pct.) with one save in 63 games (32 starts) ... Tallied six career quality starts.
- Seth Caddell leads the club with three home runs and is tied for fourth in RBI (eight).
- Connor Norby enters the weekend riding a 15-game hitting streak dating back to 2020 ... He stands atop the team stats in batting average (.457), hits (16) and is tied for first in doubles (three) ... He has hit home runs in consecutive games coming into the series.
- Freshman Carson Whisenhunt continued to impress in his second start of the season (at Georgia Southern) earning his first collegiate win after working 6.2 scoreless frames where he allowed four hits, walked one and struck out 11 ... He 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 and was named a Collegiate Baseball National Player-of-the-Week on Feb. 22.
- C.J. Mayhue earned his first career save against No. 25 Duke tossing 4.1 scoreless innings with six strikeouts ... Named to NCBWA Stopper-of-the-Year Watch List ... He has worked nine innings, fourth most on the team with 14 strikeouts, which ranks second.
- Thomas Francisco hit his first home run in over a year against No. 25 Duke which was a three-run shot to right field in the seventh inning ... He is currently riding an eight-game hitting streak that began on Opening Day vs. Rhode Island.
- Seniors Matt Bridges and Cam Colmore return for their sixth year ... Combined, they have appeared in 133 games, with an 11-4 record, seven saves with 175 Ks in 175.1 IPs ... Colmore leads the club with two wins, while standing third in strikeouts.
PROBABLE STARTERS (2021 stats)
Friday: LH Tyler Tuthill (1-0, 2.19 ERA) vs. RH Tyler Smith (0-0, 4.82 ERA)
Saturday: LH Quinton Martinez (2-0, 3.38 ERA) vs. (LH) Jake Kuchmaner (1-0, 4.66 ERA)
Sunday: TBA vs. (LH) Carson Whisenhunt (1-0, 1.69 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 220-115-1 (.656) 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.
