No. 11 ECU Entertains Rider To Begin 2024 Season

Games 1-3: Rider at No. 11 East Carolina
Coverage	February 16: 4:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch February 17: 2:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch February 18: 1:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch Radio: 94.3 The Game (Friday and Saturday) \\\ 103.7 WTIB (Sunday)
Location:	Greenville, N.C. \| Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium
Official Web Sites:	East Carolina \| Rider
Game Notes:	East Carolina \| Rider \| The American Weekly Release
Statistics:	East Carolina \| Rider
Baseball Central:	Media Center \| Roster \| Schedule/Results \| NCAA Baseball \| College Scoreboard \| Weekly Rankings \| National Stat Leaders
Social Media:	ECUBaseball (Twitter) \| ecu_baseball (Instagram) \| East Carolina Baseball (Facebook)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – One of collegiate baseball's most consistent programs over the last decade takes the field for another campaign this weekend (Feb. 16-18) as No. 11 East Carolina hosts Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference outfit Rider for a three-game set from Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

Friday's season opener is set for 4 p.m. while the series continues Saturday at 2 p.m. and wraps up Sunday at 1 p.m. All three contests will stream live via ESPN+ with Daron Vaught and Mike Mullis on the call Friday. As always, Scooter Rogers and Dr. Gary Overton will handle the radio broadcast on 94.3 The Game (103.7 WTIB on Sunday).

The Pirates are under the direction of 10th-year head coach Cliff Godwin who enters 2024 with a 351-170-1 career record. The four-time American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year has guided ECU to seven NCAA Regional berths, four Super Regional appearances, four AAC regular season titles and three AAC Tournament championships.

East Carolina returns 20 players, including eight all-conference selections and six lineup regulars, from a 2023 squad that captured the program's fourth-straight American Athletic Conference regular season title and advanced to the NCAA Charlottesville Regional finals with a pair of wins over 2022 College World Series finalist Oklahoma. The Pirates put together a 47-19 overall record and 18-6 league mark before making a run to the title game of the AAC Tournament.

In addition to 2024 AAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year and 2023 all conference first-team honoree Trey Yesavage (RHP), ECU returns the services of all-league picks Carter Cunningham (1B/OF) (first team), Jacob Jenkins-Cowart (OF) (first team), Joey Berini (SS) (second team), Luke Nowak (OF) (second team), Jacob Starling (2B) (second team), Justin Wilcoxen (C) (second team) and Zach Root (LHP) (all-freshman team).

Yesavage and Starling were also named Preseason All-Americans by various publications. Starling was selected to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Third Team while Yesavage earned First Team recognition from D1Baseball, the NCBWA and Perfect Game as well as Second Team laurels by Baseball America. As a sophomore, Yesavage compiled a 7-1 record and 2.61 earned run average with 105 strikeouts and 23 walks in 76.0 innings of work. He also held opposing hitters to a .193 batting average.

In the final national statistical rankings of the year, Yesavage slotted 12th in WHIP (1.00), 17th in strikeouts per nine innings (12.43), 17th in hits allowed per nine innings (6.28) and 22nd in earned run average. He finished the season as the American Conference leader in opposing batting average, hits allowed and runs allowed while ranking second in earned run average.

Yesavage's 105 strikeouts tied for the 10th most in a single season in program history as he tallied double-digit strikeouts five times including a career-high 13 at Houston on March 31. He also turned in six quality starts and allowed more than three earned runs just once. In his final appearance of the year, Yesavage went 5.1 innings and surrendered just one earned run with seven strikeouts in the Pirates' 14-5 win over Oklahoma in their NCAA Charlottesville Regional opener.

Starling led East Carolina in runs scored (60), hits (75) and walks drawn (44) a season ago while pacing the American Athletic Conference and ranking 97th nationally in walks drawn. He also finished third in the league in runs scored as well as first in total plate appearances (299) and second in at bats (241).

ECU unanimously topped the 2024 AAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Pirates have been picked first in the preseason poll six-straight times and seven overall since joining the conference prior to the 2015 campaign. ECU garnered 81 points and the maximum possible nine first place votes while league newcomers Charlotte and UTSA were second and third with 67 and 64 points, respectively. South Florida was awarded the only other first-place vote as coaches were not allowed to rank their own teams. The league-high six honorees are the most for the program in a single season since East Carolina accepted membership in The American. Yesavage also represents the only unanimous selection to this year's preseason all-conference team.

The Pirates continued to garner a great deal of support at Clark-LeClair Stadium in 2023, ranking 13th in the nation in average attendance (4,402) and 14th in total attendance (149,652) – both single season program records. A facility single-game record 6,003 fans filed in to watch East Carolina defeat then No. 12 North Carolina in a thrilling 6-5 decision. ECU racked up a stout 29-5 record inside the friendly confines a season ago.

Projected Opening Weekend Pitching Matchups (Statistics from 2023 Season)
Friday: RHP Trey Yesavage (7-1, 2.61 ERA) vs. LHP Brian Young (6-6, 5.53 ERA)
Saturday: LHP Zach Root (3-3, 5.53 ERA) vs. RHP PJ Craig (3-1, 5.28 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Jake Hunter (4-2, 4.71 ERA) vs. RHP Jake Dorety (Incoming Freshman)

About Rider
Rider posted a 36-21 overall record and 14-7 MAAC ledger in 2023 before defeating regular season champion Fairfield twice in the league tournament to clinch the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals. The Broncs upset host and No. 10 national seed Coastal Carolina 11-10 in their first game of the Conway Regional before dropping a narrow 2-1 contest to Duke and a subsequent 13-5 decision to the Chanticleers. Brian Skettini returns as one of Rider's top offensive options as he batted .308 with 46 runs scored, 62 hits, 17 doubles and 46 RBI last year. The Broncs will have to replace several key contributors on the mound, including closer Danny Kirwin, who went 6-2 with a 2.12 ERA, 64 strikeouts and 14 saves over 46.2 innings of work, and Frank Doelling who started a team-high 14 games and topped the squad in innings pitched (69.0) as well as compiling a 3.52 ERA and 56 strikeouts against 28 walks. Rider hit a collective .268 in 2023 with 106 doubles, five triples and 43 home runs while the Broncs pitching staff sported a 4.21 ERA with 400 strikeouts over 464.0 innings.

The Rider Series
East Carolina leads the series with Rider by an 8-0 margin, though the teams have not faced off since the 1997 campaign when the Pirates defeated the Broncs 6-3 at a neutral site contest in Wilmington, N.C. ECU holds a 6-0 home record versus Rider.

In Season-Opening Series
East Carolina has won six of nine season-opening series since 2015. Oddly, each three-game set has ended in a sweep. The Pirates have recorded clean sweeps over Longwood (2016), Western Carolina (2018), Radford (2019), William & Mary (2020), Rhode Island (2021) and George Washington (2023) while falling to Virginia (2015), Ole Miss (2017) and Bryant (2022).

40 Somethings
East Carolina won 47 games in 2023, marking its fifth-straight campaign of eclipsing the 40-victory plateau. The Pirates own the second longest active streak nationally, trailing only Southern Miss (seven).

Winning With Regularity
ECU has claimed the last four AAC regular season titles. Campbell (Big South) and Wright State (Horizon League) are the only two programs in the country with longer streaks while Connecticut (Big East) and Fairfield (Metro) sit on three-straight conference regular season championships.

RPI Examination
East Carolina owns the fourth-best average RPI in the nation since 2018, finishing 12th in 2018, seventh in 2019, 13th in 2021, eighth in 2022 and 26th in 2023. The Pirates' average mark of 13.2 ranks behind just Stanford (7.8), Vanderbilt (11.0) and Arkansas (11.8).

Preseason Individual Notables (Based off 2023 Campaign)
Cliff Godwin: Owns 351 career wins and is second on the East Carolina career coaching wins list ... Has been part of 14 NCAA Regional and two College World Series teams at the Division I level as an assistant coach and head coach … Guided ECU to seven NCAA Regional berths (2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 Greenville Regional host), four Super Regional appearances, four-straight American Athletic Conference regular season titles and three AAC Tournament crowns while posting a 351-170-1 (.673) overall record … Under Godwin's direction, 13 players have earned All-America status, 18 have been NCAA All-Regional selections, 40 have been named all-conference (25 first teamers) and 22 have been drafted by Major League Baseball teams … A four-time AAC Coach-of-the-Year selection (2015, 2019, 2021, 2022), 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.

Joey Berini: All AAC Second Team selection ... Started 61 of 63 games played – all at shortstop ... Tied for the team lead in batting average, hitting .318 (68-for-214) with 34 runs scored, seven doubles, one triple, four home runs, 35 RBI, 89 total bases, 23 walks and three stolen bases ... Paced the squad and slotted second in the conference with seven sacrifice bunts ... Hit .321 in American Athletic Conference play with 13 runs scored, two doubles, one triple, one home run 14 RBI and nine walks ... Put together a .318 batting average in the AAC Baseball Championship while producing a .400 mark (6-for-15) at the NCAA Charlottesville Regional ... Notched 18 multi-hit and eight multi-RBI efforts.

Carter Cunningham: All AAC First-Team selection ... AAC All-Tournament Team ... Played in 65 games with 51 starts (35/RF, 13/LF, 3/CF) ... Hit .317 (59-for-186) with 51 runs scored, 12 doubles, a triple, eight home runs, 39 RBI, 97 total bases, 33 walks and five stolen bases ... Tallied a .522 slugging percentage and .429 on base percentage to account for an 0.951 OPS ... Put together a .289 batting average in American Athletic Conference play with 20 runs scored, four doubles, two home runs, 14 RBI, 32 total bases and 11 walks ... Hit .346 in the AAC Baseball Championship tournament, helping East Carolina reach the title game ... Produced 15 multi-hit and eight multi-RBI efforts ... Slotted third among league players in sacrifice flies (six).

Jake Hunter: Appeared in 22 games with four starts ... Compiled a 4-2 record with a 4.71 earned run average and 51 strikeouts against 13 walks in 42.0 innings of work ... Limited opposing hitters to a .224 batting average ... Pitched in six American Athletic Conference contests, putting together a 2-0 record with a 3.97 ERA, 14 strikeouts and two walks in 11.1 frames ... Notched multiple strikeouts in 10 games.

Jacob Jenkins-Cowart: All AAC First-Team selection ... Started all 60 games in which he played (26/RF, 13/LF, 11/CF, 10/DH) ... Hit .294 (63-for-214) with 33 runs scored, 13 doubles, one triple, nine home runs, 45 RBI, 105 total bases, 18 walks and two stolen bases ... Committed just one error in 68 defensive chances to finish the campaign with a .985 fielding percentage ... Tallied a .491 slugging percentage and .354 on base percentage to account for a 0.845 OPS ... Batted .275 (19-for-69) in American Athletic Conference play, starting all 20 games in which he appeared ... Hit .300 (3-for-10) in the NCAA Charlottesville Regional ... Put together 15 multi-hit and 11 multi-RBI efforts.

Luke Nowak: All AAC Second-Team selection ... Appeared in 62 games with 52 starts (29/DH, 18/LF, 5/RF) ... Hit .288 (53-for-184) with 38 runs scored, nine doubles, three triples, 33 RBI, 68 total bases 33 walks and 20 stolen bases ... Paced the club in triples and stolen bases ... Batted .304 in American Athletic Conference play with 19 runs scored, four doubles, two triples, 20 RBI, 32 total bases, eight walks and five stolen bases ... Produced 13 multi-hit and eight multi-RBI efforts ... Tied the single-game program record of five walks drawn in East Carolina's 13-1 victory over Liberty.

Zach Root: All-AAC Freshman Team selection ... Appeared in 20 games with 13 starts ... Compiled a 3-3 record with a 5.33 earned run average and 54 strikeouts against 27 walks in 53.2 innings of work ... Limited opposing hitters to a .254 batting average ... Notched multiple strikeouts in 12 contests ... Recorded victories over George Washington (Feb. 18), Elon (March 8) and Old Dominion (April 11) ... Turned in a superb start in the NCAA Charlottesville Regional finals against No. 7 national seed at host Virginia, allowing just one earned run and five hits in 4.2 innings of work ... Collected his first collegiate save in East Carolina's 6-5 home win over North Carolina (Feb. 24) in front of a Clark-LeClair Stadium record crowd of 6,003.

Jacob Starling: NCAA Charlottesville All-Regional Team ... AAC All-Tournament Team ... All AAC Second-Team selection ... Started 62 of 64 games played, all at second base ... Hit .311 (75-for-241) with 60 runs scored, 15 doubles, one triple, 10 home runs, 52 RBI, 122 total bases, 44 walks and 19 stolen bases ... Led East Carolina in runs scored, hits and walks drawn ... Paced the American Athletic Conference and slotted 97th nationally in walks drawn ... Ranked third in the league in runs scored as well as first in total plate appearances (299) and second in at bats (241) ... Batted .310 (26-for-84) in AAC play with 22 runs scored, four doubles, four home runs, 15 RBI, 14 walks drawn and five stolen bases ... Went 8-for-25 (.320) in the conference tournament before posting a .278 batting average (5-for-18) in the NCAA Charlottesville Regional ... Led the squad with 27 multi-hit games while also turning in 14 multi-RBI efforts ... Recorded a hit in 43 of 62 games played ... Exploded for a career-high six RBI in the Pirates' 17-4 win over Indiana.

Justin Wilcoxen: All AAC Second-Team selection ... Played in 60 games with 55 starts, developing into East Carolina's everyday catcher ... Hit .318 (71-for-223) with 43 runs scored, 20 doubles, one triple, nine home runs, 49 RBI, 120 total bases and 20 walks ... Upped his batting average to .323 (21-for-65) in American Athletic Conference play with 14 runs scored, four doubles, three home runs, 15 RBI and nine walks ... Paced the club in batting average and doubles while leading the league in doubles, chances (580) and putouts (523) ... Caught a conference second-best 19 runners stealing ... Produced 18 multi-hit and 15 multi-RBI efforts ... Helped lead the Pirates to 39 wins as the starting catcher ... Put together a team long 15-game hitting streak from March 8 to April 7 during which he batted .360 (18-for-50) with nine runs scored, nine RBI, five doubles and a home run.

Trey Yesavage: Second Team All-America selection (Baseball America, D1Baseball, NCBWA and Perfect Game) ... 2023 All AAC First-Team pick ... Appeared in 16 games with 14 starts ... Compiled a 7-1 record with a 2.61 earned run average and 105 strikeouts against 23 walks in 76.0 innings of work ... Paced the club in ERA, victories and opposing batting average (.193) ... Finished among the national leaders in WHIP (12th/1.00), strikeouts per nine innings (17th/12.43), hits allowed per nine innings (17th/6.28) and ERA (22nd) ... Ended the campaign as the American Athletic Conference leader in opposing batting average, hits allowed and runs allowed while ranking second in ERA ... His 105 strikeouts tied for the 10th most in a single season in program history ... Tallied a 2-1 record, 4.39 ERA and 36 strikeouts over 26.2 innings in AAC play ... Fanned eight batters in 6.2 frames and notched a save at the AAC Baseball Championship tournament ... Was outstanding in the opener of the NCAA Charlottesville Regional, striking out seven batters while allowing no earned runs in 5.1 innings as East Carolina knocked off Oklahoma 14-5 to begin the regional ... Turned in six quality starts ... Struck out multiple hitters in 14 contests ... Recorded double-digit strikeouts five times ... Registered a 4.6 strikeout to walk ratio.

Looking Ahead
East Carolina encounters its first midweek affair of the season when it makes the short trip to Buies Creek and Jim Perry Stadium Tuesday (Feb. 20) evening for an appointment with Campbell. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. and the contest will stream live on FloBaseball.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Joey Berini

Carter Cunningham

Jake Hunter

Jacob Jenkins-Cowart

Luke Nowak

Jacob Starling

Justin Wilcoxen

Trey Yesavage

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