East Carolina University
Bryant
ECU Opens 2022 Season Friday Afternoon
February 17, 2022 | Baseball
| Games: 1-3 | |
| Dates: | Feb. 18-20, 2022 |
| Times: | 4 p.m. /// 2 p.m. /// 1 p.m. (EST) |
| Location: | Greenville, N.C. (Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium) |
| Game Program: | Baseball Gameday #1 |
| Live Game Coverage: | Radio: 94.3 FM The Game ESPN+ (Friday) | ESPN+ (Saturday) | ESPN+ (Sunday) Varsity Network: Online (LEARFIELD/IMG College) |
| Internet Options | Live Stats: All Weekend |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | Bryant |
| Game Notes | East Carolina | Bryant | American |
| 2021 Statistics | East Carolina | Bryant |
| Baseball Central | Roster | Schedule/Results | NCAA Baseball | College Scoreboard | Weekly Rankings | National Stat Leaders |
| Social Media | ECUBaseball | The American |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Nationally-ranked East Carolina opens the 2022 season on Friday, Feb. 18 when it plays host to Bryant in the first of a three-game series. First pitch of the weekend is slated for 4 p.m. (EST) at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium.
The Pirates, who have made 31 NCAA Regional appearances, won their second-straight American Athletic Conference regular season title with a league-best 20 wins, hosted the Greenville Regional (sixth in program history) for the third consecutive year in 2021 after earning a No. 13 National seed and advanced to the Vanderbilt Super Regional. ECU finished ranked in all six national polls (Collegiate Baseball/No. 12, D1Baseball/No. 12, Perfect Game/No. 12, Baseball America/No. 13, NCBWA/No. 13 and USA Today/No. 13) in 2021 after posting a 44-17 overall record.
ECU returns 25 players including Freshman All-America selections C.J. Mayhue (2020), Zach Agnos (2021) and Josh Moylan (2021) along with AAC All-Conference performers Jake Kuchmaner (2019) and Bryson Worrell (2021). In all, the roster consists of 13 freshmen, 19 sophomores, five juniors and five seniors.
The 2021-22 recruiting class consists of three infielders (Quinn Allen, Landon Howard and Jacob Jenkins-Cowart), two outfielders (Carter Cunningham and Luke Nowak), two catchers (Ayden Edwards and Ryan McCrystal) and nine pitchers (Merritt Beeker, Charlie Hodges, Jake Hunter, Jordan Little, Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman, Erik Ritchie, Ben Terwilliger, Jaden Winter and Trey Yesavage).
INDIVIDUAL QUICK HITS (prior to series)
• Eighth-year head coach Cliff Godwin stands third on ECU's all-time wins list with 258 victories ... His current win percentage of .665 is tied for fifth among active head coaches at four-year schools ... 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.
• Junior Garrett Saylor gets the call on opening day and is set to make his third career start ... He made two spot starts in 2021 against Old Dominion (March 3) and UCF (April 23) ... During his three years with the Pirates, he owns a 7-1 record with a 4.00 ERA ... Worked 54.0 total frames with 63 Ks to 26 BBs.
• For the third-straight year, senior Jake Kuchmaner has been penciled into the weekend rotation ... He owns a 17-6 career record with a 3.94 ERA over 47 appearances (37 starts) ... The lefty has worked 185.0 innings with 149 strikeouts to 47 walks ... A First-Team All-AAC selection in 2019, he tossed the 31st perfect game in NCAA DI history at Maryland on March 17.
• Freshman Jake Hunter will make his collegiate debut on Sunday, Feb. 20 taking the rubber in the third game against Bryant ... He helped East Rowan HS to 54 wins over three-plus seasons where he posted a 13-5 record with 222 strikeouts in 149.0 prep innings.
• Sophomore Carson Whisenhunt has picked up a ton of preseason accolades heading into the 2022 campaign ... Along with being named to the Golden Spikes Award Watch List and collecting preseason All-America honors from four national media outlets, he was also tabbed The American preseason Pitcher-of-the-Year by the leagues head coaches ... Last year he posted a 6-2 record with a 3.77 ERA ... The lefty fanned 79 batters while walking just 22 over 62.0 innings.
• Sophomore C.J. Mayhue was tabbed as a preseason All-American (third-team) by NCBWA ... Prior to the weekend series, he earned inclusion on the NCBWA Stopper-of-the-Year Watch List for the second consecutive year ... In 2021, he appeared in a team and AAC-best 34 games (all relief) posting a 3-1 record with eight saves (AAC Co-leader) ... He allowed 24 runs (17 earned) on 44 hits with a 3.06 ERA ... Struck out 76 batters (third most on team) while issuing 21 walks over 50.0 frames.
• Josh Moylan enters the 2022 season as a preseason All-AAC selection by Perfect Game ... As a rookie, he earned inclusion on three Freshman All-America squads and was a First-Team All-AAC selection (DH) by the leagues head coaches ... He appeared in 59 games (58 starts) standing fourth on the club with a .310 (58-for-18) batting average ... Tallied 15 extra base hits with six home runs ... Drove in 38 runs ranking fifth on the club ... During Greenville Regional he registered three hits (two doubles) with a team-high five RBI … Plated the Pirates lone run in the Nashville Super Regional after hitting a solo home run in the seventh inning (June 12).
• Zach Agnos earned First-Team Freshman All-America accolades in 2021 by Collegiate Baseball and was tabbed as a second-team all-league pick by the leagues head coaches ... Started all 61 games during second year with the program all at third base … Batted .268 (55-for-205) with six home runs, 43 RBI and scored 38 runs … Added 15 doubles and one triple to go with a team-best 43 walks … Ranked third on the team with 18 multi-hit and 10 multi-RBI games … Registered six game winning RBI which included a two-RBI double in the Greenville Regional Championship Game against No. 24 Maryland.
• Junior Ryder Giles was one of four players to start all 61 games during his third season with the program – all at shortstop … Batted .211 (39-for-185) with a home run and four doubles … Drove in 18 runs while scoring 29 … Led the team with 16 total sacrifices (15 sac hits) where he ranked second nationally … Stood sixth in the country and first in The American in sac bunts per game (0.25) … Currently stands third all-time in the Pirate annuals with 35 sacrifices … Registered eight multi-hit and four multi-RBI games.
TEAM QUICK HITS (prior to series)
• ECU will open its 88th season of collegiate baseball (1932-42, 1946-present) with a three-game set against Bryant (Feb. 18-20).
• The last time (and only time) ECU and Bryant met between the lines came during the opening round of the 2016 Charlottesville Regional ... The Pirates broke a close game open scoring seven runs in the eighth inning for a 9-1 victory.
• 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.
• Heading into this weeks action, ECU has been ranked or received votes in at least one national poll for 61-straight weeks (began in 2018 preseason).
• Heading into the season, ECU has five potential two-way players on its roster ... Dubbed #2WayU by Godwin, the players are Zach Agnos, CJ Boyd, Skylar Brooks, Cam Clonch and Ryder Giles.
PROBABLE STARTERS (2021 stats)
Friday: RHP Collin Lowe (0-3, 9.00 ERA) vs. RHP Garrett Saylor (4-1, 5.09 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Jared Burrows (1-1, 11.88 ERA) vs. Jake Kuchmaner (2-4, 5.97 ERA)
Sunday: LHP Logan Frasier (0-0, 8.44 ERA) vs. RHP Jake Hunter (0-0, 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 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 (2018, 2019 and 2021 Greenville Regional host), three Super Regional appearances and a pair of American Athletic Conference Regular season and a pair of AAC Tournament crowns while posting a 258-130-1 (.665) overall record … Sixteen 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.
