East Carolina Opens AAC Play At Cincinnati
March 31, 2022 | Baseball
| Games: 27-29 | |
| Date: | April 1-3, 2022 |
| Time: | 5 p.m. \\\ 4 p.m. \\\ 12 Noon (ET) |
| Locations: | Cincinnati Ohio (Friday-Sunday) | UC Baseball Stadium |
| Game Program: | Baseball Gameday #4 |
| Live Game Coverage: | Radio: 94.3 FM The Game ESPN+ (Friday | Saturday | Sunday) Varsity Network: Online (LEARFIELD) |
| Live Stats: | All Weekend |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | Cincinnati |
| Game Notes | East Carolina | Cincinnati | American |
| 2022 Statistics | East Carolina | Cincinnati |
| Baseball Central | Roster | Schedule/Results | NCAA Baseball | College Scoreboard | Weekly Rankings | National Stat Leaders |
| Social Media | ECUBaseball | The American |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina (14-12) will open up American Athletic Conference play this weekend when it travels to Cincinnati (9-14). First pitch of the series is set for Friday, April 1 at 5 p.m. inside the UC Baseball Stadium and will be streamed on ESPN+.
The Pirates, who have made 31 NCAA Regional appearances, won their second-straight American Athletic Conference regular season title with a league-best 20 victories, 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 two infielders (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 weekend)
- For the third-straight year, Jake Kuchmaner was penciled into the weekend rotation ... In six starts, he owns an 3-1 record with a 2.73 ERA where he has allowed 12 runs (nine earned) on 32 hits in 29.2 innings ... Registered his second quality start of the season against Saint Mary's (3/11) and has eight for his career ... As a Pirate, he is 20-7 with a 3.77 career ERA over 53 appearances (43 starts - ninth all-time at ECU) ... The lefty has worked 214.2 innings with 177 strikeouts to 55 walks ... A First-Team All-AAC selection in 2019, he tossed the 31st perfect game in NCAA DI history at Maryland on March 17.
- Josh Grosz earned his first career win in relief at Duke (3/1) tossing three scoreless frames with five punch outs ... Picked up second win of the year against Michigan (3/5) ... For his career, he is 2-2 with a 530 ERA registering 36 strikeouts in 37.1 IP.
- Jake Hunter made his collegiate debut against Bryant (2/20) as the Sunday starter ... In six outings (five starts), he sports a 0-1 record with a 5.94 ERA .. The right-hander combined on a 5-0 shut out against North Carolina (2/27) tossing 3.1 scoreless frames with three punch outs ... Became the first true freshman to start a game opening weekend since Trey Benton (2017) at Ole Miss.
- Carter Spivey tossed a career-high 4.2 innings in relief against No. 22 NC State (3/29) ... Also worked 4.1 scoreless frames vs. No. 26 North Carolina (2/27) with a career-high seven strikeouts ... In 14 outings, which included a start at Campbell, he is 1-0 with two saves ... Currently he sports a 2.51 ERA with 37 strikeouts to just four walks in 28.2 total frames.
- C.J. Mayhue was tabbed as a preseason All-American (third-team) by NCBWA ... Prior to the season opener, he earned inclusion on the NCBWA Stopper-of-the-Year Watch List for the second consecutive year ... Has appeared in 56 career games (55 relief) posting a 6-2 record with nine saves ... Owns a 2.71 ERA and has struck out 119 batters while walking 36 over 86.1 innings ... Made first collegiate start vs. No. 22 NC State (3/29) allowing one run on two with four strikeouts in three innings.
- Garrett Saylor was named one of Collegiate Baseball's National Players-of-the-Week (March 14) after appearing in four games during the Pirates 3-2 week, which included a series win over Saint Mary's ... Also named to AAC Honor Roll (March 14) ... In 13 outings (two starts) he is 2-3 with one save and has struck out 42 batters while walking nine in 29.2 innings.
- Lane Hoover ranks second on the team with a .348 batting average ... Registered at least one hit in 15 of last 17 games entering this weekend ... At ECU, he has started 118 of 137 games posting a .313 batting average with a home run, 13 doubles and 52 RBI ... Tallied four game-winning RBI (one in 2022) ... Ranks first in AAC in toughest to strikeout (once every 11.1 ABs).
- Alec Makarewicz was named to AAC Honor Roll (March 7) ... Leads the club with 18 RBI (4 at Duke/March 1) and four home runs (Bryant/Feb. 9, Michigan/March 5, Saint Mary's/March 11, CofC/March 18).
- Justin Wilcoxen has started 14-of-22 games played behind the plate ... Tallied three multi-hit and one multi-RBI games this season ... Hit first career home run against North Carolina (Feb. 27).
- Jacob Jenkins-Cowart boasts a .304 batting average ... Is tied for second in HRs (three) and tied for third in multi-hit games (seven) ... Has two game-winning RBI both against Saint Mary's (March 11 and March 13/game two of doubleheader) ... Drove in multiple runs in a game three times (UNC/Feb. 27 and Virginia Tech/March 8, College of Charleston/March 18).
- Skylar Brooks has appeared in 14 games, which leads the AAC and ranks sixth nationally ... Owns an 0-1 record with two saves and a 4.00 career ERA ... Fanned 19 batters while walking 12 in 18.0 innings ... Notched saves against UNC (2/27) and Indiana State (3/4).
- Josh Moylan returned to action at UNCW ... Hit a pair of home runs and drove in four in ECU's 4-1 week (3/22-27) and now has three on the year ... Drew seven free passes during the Pirates 4-0 week (3/1-6) ... He tallied four walks at Duke (3/1) - something that hadn't been done since Corey Thompson in 2012 (vs. Milwaukee) ... Has appeared in 79 career games (77 starts) and owns .276 career batting average with nine home runs and 46 RBI.
- Zach Agnos leads the team with four game-winning RBI, including two during the LeClair Classic ... Tied with Worrell in multi-hit games (nine) ... In his time at ECU, he has started all 104 games played where he is batting .267 with seven home runs, 21 doubles and 66 RBI.
- Ryder Giles has started 148 of 154 games played at shortstop since stepping on campus in 2019 ... Currently stands third all-time in the Pirate annuals with 37 sacrifices … Earned his sixth career save against Maryland tossing 2.1 scoreless frames with three strikeouts ... Started thre career games (Duke on 4/3/19, at UNCW on 3/22/22, VCU on 3/26/22) ... Named to AAC Honor Roll (March 28).
- Bryson Worrell has started all 26 games in center where he owns a .245 average with three home runs, five doubles and has driven in 10 as ECU's leadoff hitter ... He has started 127 of 182 games batting .271 with 23 home runs, 31 doubles, five triples and 86 RBI ... Has swiped 19 of 26 bases and owns a .980 career fielding percentage.
- ECU opened its 88th season of collegiate baseball (1932-42, 1946-present) against Bryant (Feb. 18) falling 10-2 ... 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.
- For the first time since the end of the 2017 season, the Pirates are not ranked nor receiving votes in any of the six major polls ... Their streak ended at 64 consecutive weeks (2018 preseason to March 7, 2022).
- There are five potential two-way players on this year's roster ... Dubbed #2WayU by Godwin, the players are Zach Agnos, CJ Boyd, Skylar Brooks, Cam Clonch and Ryder Giles.
PROBABLE STARTERS (2022 stats)
Friday: LH Jake Kuchmaner (3-1, 2.73 ERA) vs. LH Connor Linn (1-0, 2.61 ERA)
Saturday: TBA vs. RH Beau Keathley (2-0, 5.68 ERA)
Sunday: TBA vs. RH Zach Segal (0-1, 6.65 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 eight 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 272-142-1 (.657) 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.
