East Carolina University
Vanderbilt
ECU Set To Play Vanderbilt In Super Regional
June 10, 2021 | Baseball
| Nashville Regional | |
| Dates: | June 11-13, 2021 |
| Schedule/Times: | Click Here |
| Location: | Nashville, Tenn. (Hawkins Field) |
| Live Game Coverage: | Radio: 94.3 FM The Game ESPN Platforms TuneIn Radio: Online (Learfield/IMG College) |
| Internet Options: | Live Stats: Nashville Regional |
| Official Web Sites: | East Carolina | Vanderbilt |
| Game Notes: | East Carolina | Vanderbilt |
| 2021 Statistics: | East Carolina | Vanderbilt |
| Baseball Central: | Roster | Schedule/Results | NCAA Baseball | College Scoreboard | Weekly Rankings | National Stat Leaders |
| Social Media: | ECUBaseball | The American |
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – No. 13 national seed East Carolina (44-15) will open the 2021 Nashville Region Friday, June 11 when it squares off against No. 4 national seed Vanderbilt (43-15) at Hawkins Field. First pitch is slated for 12 noon (ET) and will be aired on ESPN2.
The Pirates will make their sixth super regional appearance in program history third under seventh-year head coach Cliff Godwin. They 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, eight juniors and three seniors.
Also stepping onto the diamond are 11 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) and Jacob Starling (INF/OF).
TEAM QUICK HITS (as of June 10)
- Mustache March has come to an end, but East Carolina, Memphis and Michigan's baseball teams reached their goal of $10,000 to help #StrikeOutALS. Fans can still donate by clicking 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 17 of the last 22 seasons, including five of six under Godwin (2015, '16, '18, '19, '21) - no post-season in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
- The duo of Norby (97) and Francisco (84) have combined for 186 hits and leads the nation as the best one-two punch in the top of the batting order.
- Heading into this weeks action, ECU has been ranked or received votes in at least one national poll for 59-straight weeks (began in 2018 preseason).
- Heading into super regional play, ECU ranks among the national leaders (Top 25) in 10 categories including win percentage (eighth/74.6), sac bunts (10th/43), hits (12th/590), K to BB ratio (17th/3.03), Ks per 9 inn (18th/10.5), batting average (21st/.300), walks (23rd/266), home runs (24th/75), runs (24th/408) and WHIP (24th/1.29).
- This season the Pirates have fanned 606 batters in 59 games (10.5 kpg) and last year averaged 10.1 per contest (171 Ks in 17 games).
- Heading into the season, ECU has five two-way players on its roster ... Dubbed #2WayU by Godwin, the four players are Zach Agnos, Skylar Brooks, Cam Clonch and Ryder Giles.
INDIVIDUAL QUICK HITS (as of June 10)
- Seventh-year head coach Cliff Godwin stands third on ECU's all-time wins list with 258 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.
- Freshman Carson Whisenhunt Owns a 6-1 record in 12 starts with a 3.75 ERA ... Struck out 76 while walking 19 in 57.2 innings ... Named AAC Pitcher-of-the-Week (March 15) and is a two-time AAC Honor Roll member ... Became the first pitcher since Brooks Jernigan (1998) to record double-digit strikeouts in consecutive games ... 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.
- Junior Gavin Williams was named AAC Pitcher-of-the-Year, a unanimous first-team all-conference selection ... First-Team Collegiate Baseball All-American ... Semifinalist for the Golden Spikes and Dick Howser Awards ... Earned consecutive AAC Pitcher-of-the-Week honors (March 29, April 5) ... Since moving into a starters role, he has allowed 14 runs (13 earned) over 65.1 innings ... He has 106 strikeouts to 16 walks ... Fanned 10-plus batters in five of those starts and sports a 10-0 record with a 1.82 ERA ... Ranks among the national leaders in Ks per 9 innings (sixth/14.23), wins (seventh/10), ERA (ninth/1.82), strikeouts (20th/117), K to BB ratio (32nd/6.16) and hits allowed per 9 innings (34th/6.08) ... Leads the team with seven quality starts.
- Tyler Smith, a fifth-year senior, 20-6 career record in 76 appearances (43 starts) ... A 2018 all-conference performer, owns sports a 76.9 career win percentage with one save ... Tallied seven career quality starts and combined on five career shutouts.
- Seth Caddell ranks second on the team in home runs (14) and third in RBI (47).
- Connor Norby earned Second-Team Collegiate Baseball All-America honors ... Named finalist for the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award ... Earned AAC Player-of-the-Year accolades and was a first-team all-conference selection ... Named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes and Dick Howser Awards ... Enters super regional play second nationally in hits (100) and total bases (160), while also ranking among the leaders in hits per game (sixth/1.69), batting average (eighth/.418), runs (10th/64), on-base percentage (38th/.487), home runs (42nd/15), runs per game (42nd/1.08) and slugging percentage (47th/.669) ... Had 56-game on-base streak snapped at USF (May 21), which was the longest in the nation at the time (also ECU school record) ... Named AAC Player-of-the-Week (March 15) and is a two-time AAC Honor Roll selection ... Collected at least one hit in 51 of 59 games (multiple 33 times) and has plated at least one run in 27 contests (multiple on 12 occasions) – both leading the team.
- C.J. Mayhue has eight saves on the season which is tied for the league lead and ranks 36th nationally ... Earned a pair of saves at Cincinnati in the Saturday and Sunday games ... Owns a 3-1 record in 33 outings (fourth nationally) with 75 strikeouts to 20 walks in 49.0 innings ... Named to NCBWA Midseason Stopper of the Year Watch List (April 28).
- Thomas Francisco earned second-team All-AAC honors ... Ranks eighth nationally in hits (86) and 10th in runs (64) ... Currently hitting at a .361 clip which is second in The American behind Norby ... Had 31-game on-base streak snapped at WSU ... Nine of his career-high 13 home runs have come against AAC opponents ... Hit two runs in a game twice this season (Illinois State/March 19, Tulane/May 9).
- Seniors Matt Bridges and Cam Colmore return for their sixth year ... Combined, they have appeared in 182 games, with a 20-5 record, 14 saves ... Bridges was named Greenville Regional MOP after registering a win and two saves in three appearances. Colmore earned second-team All-AAC honors as a reliever ... Was named AAC Pitcher-of-the-Week on May 10.
PROBABLE STARTERS (2021 stats)
Friday: (RH) Gavin Williams (10-0, 1.82 ER) vs. Kumar Rocker (12-3, 2.65 ERA)
Saturday: (LH) Carson Whisenhunt (6-1, 3.75 ERA) vs. Jack Leiter (9-3, 2.22 ERA)
Sunday: TBA vs. TBA
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 12 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 five NCAA Regional berths (2015/Miami Regional, 2016 Charlottesville Regional and three consecutive Greenville Regional hosts - 2018, 2019 and 2021), three Super Regional appearances, the 2019 and 2021 American Athletic Conference Regular season titles, a pair of AAC Tournament crowns and a 258-128-1 (.668) overall record … Twelve players have earned All-America status, while 15 were NCAA All-Regional selections, 23 were named all-conference (18 first-teamers) and 14 were drafted by Major League Baseball teams … A three-time AAC Coach-of-the-Year selection (2015, 2019, 2021), 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.
