Pirates Collect No. 24 Ranking In Preseason Baseball America Poll
January 23, 2023 | Baseball
GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina received its third national ranking of the 2023 preseason Monday morning, earning a No. 24 designation in the Baseball America Preseason Top 25 Poll.
The three-time defending American Athletic Conference regular season champion Pirates were tabbed No. 11 by D1Baseball and No. 20 by Collegiate Baseball in the last few weeks as well as earning selection as the unanimous favorite in the AAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Senior RHP Carter Spivey was also selected the unanimous American Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year and was joined on the league's Preseason All-Conference Team by sophomore outfielder Jacob Jenkins-Cowart – the 2022 AAC Baseball Championship Most Outstanding Player.
East Carolina put together a 46-21 overall record and notched 20 league wins for the third-straight season in 2022. The Pirates won their seventh NCAA Regional title and hosted a Super Regional for the first time in program history.
ECU is just 25 days away from opening the 2023 season with a three-game home series (Feb. 17-19) against George Washington at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
Baseball America Preseason Top 25 Poll
1. LSU
2. Tennessee
3. Florida
4. Stanford
5. Louisville
6. Vanderbilt
7. Texas A&M
8. Miami (Fla.)
9. Wake Forest
10. Ole Miss
11. Arkansas
12. UCLA
13. Virginia Tech
14. TCU
15. Oklahoma State
16. Maryland
17. North Carolina
18. Oregon State
19. Virginia
20. Oregon
21. Southern Miss
22. Auburn
23. Texas Tech
24. East Carolina
25. NC State
About East Carolina
The three-time defending American Athletic Conference regular season champion Pirates were tabbed No. 11 by D1Baseball and No. 20 by Collegiate Baseball in the last few weeks as well as earning selection as the unanimous favorite in the AAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Senior RHP Carter Spivey was also selected the unanimous American Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year and was joined on the league's Preseason All-Conference Team by sophomore outfielder Jacob Jenkins-Cowart – the 2022 AAC Baseball Championship Most Outstanding Player.
East Carolina put together a 46-21 overall record and notched 20 league wins for the third-straight season in 2022. The Pirates won their seventh NCAA Regional title and hosted a Super Regional for the first time in program history.
ECU is just 25 days away from opening the 2023 season with a three-game home series (Feb. 17-19) against George Washington at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
Baseball America Preseason Top 25 Poll
1. LSU
2. Tennessee
3. Florida
4. Stanford
5. Louisville
6. Vanderbilt
7. Texas A&M
8. Miami (Fla.)
9. Wake Forest
10. Ole Miss
11. Arkansas
12. UCLA
13. Virginia Tech
14. TCU
15. Oklahoma State
16. Maryland
17. North Carolina
18. Oregon State
19. Virginia
20. Oregon
21. Southern Miss
22. Auburn
23. Texas Tech
24. East Carolina
25. NC State
About East Carolina
- ECU captured its third-straight American Athletic Conference regular season championship in 2022, finishing the campaign with 46 victories - its most since a 47-victory campaign in 2019. East Carolina posted a 20-4 record in league play, outpacing second-place UCF by six games.
- The Pirates hosted an NCAA Regional for the fourth-straight season, joining Stanford as the only team to do so.
- ECU earned the No. 8 national seed, its highest since it was the No. 7 national seed in 2001 and hosted a regional in Wilson, N.C.
- The Pirates finished at No. 8 in the final 2022 NCAA RPI ranking.
- Ninth-year head coach Cliff Godwin was tabbed the AAC Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career.
- East Carolina returns the American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year and Third-Team All-American RHP Carter Spivey as well as freshman All-America selection and AAC Baseball Championship Most Outstanding Player outfielder Jacob Jenkins-Cowart and the 2022 squad's leader in batting average outfielder Lane Hoover.
- Spivey was selected to the 2023 Collegiate Baseball Preseason All-America Second Team on Dec. 19 and was named the 2023 Preseason AAC Pitcher of the Year.
- Spivey and Jenkins-Cowart were selected unanimously to the 2023 All-AAC Preseason Team.
- ECU welcomes back six All-AAC honorees to this year's squad: Lane Hoover (First Team), Carter Spivey (First Team), Cam Clonch (Second Team), Alec Makarewicz (Second Team), Garrett Saylor (Second Team) and Jacob Starling (Second Team).
- The Pirates finished among the top 40 nationally in 12 statistical categories in 2022, ECU was third among NCAA Division I squads in both fielding percentage and sacrifice flies.
- East Carolina is the only team in the nation to have won 40 games the last four seasons, host four-straight NCAA Regionals and play in three-straight NCAA Super Regionals.
- ECU checked in at No. 22 on D1Baseball's recently-released Top 100 collegiate baseball programs.
Players Mentioned
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