Tuesday, February 20
Buies Creek, N.C.
5:00 p.m.
East Carolina University
at
Campbell
No. 11 ECU Visits Campbell For Midweek Showdown
February 19, 2024 | Baseball
| Game 4: No. 11 East Carolina at Campbell | |
| Coverage | February 20: 5:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch Radio: 94.3 The Game |
| Location: | Buies Creek, N.C. | Jim Perry Stadium |
| Official Web Sites: | East Carolina | Campbell |
| Game Notes: | East Carolina | Campbell | The American Weekly Release |
| Statistics: | East Carolina | Campbell |
| 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. – No. 11 East Carolina looks to extend its early season success Tuesday evening when it heads over to Buies Creek for its first midweek bout of the campaign with Campbell.
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The contest is slated for a 5 p.m. first pitch and will stream live via FloBaseball. As always, Scooter Rogers and Dr. Gary Overton will have the radio call on 94.3 The Game.
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The Pirates (3-0) took care of business over Opening Weekend, outscoring 2023 NCAA Conway Regional participant Rider 30-2 in a clean sweep at Clark-LeClair Stadium. ECU hit .350 collectively while the pitching staff compiled an 0.67 earned run average with 37 strikeouts against eight walks.
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Jacob Jenkins-Cowart got off to a hot start at the plate, batting .500 (6-for-12) with six runs scored, three doubles, two home runs, five RBI, two stolen bases and a 1.821 OPS to earn American Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career.
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Projected Pitching Matchup
RHP Chris Kahler (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Cole Peschl (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
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About Campbell
The Camels picked up a nice series win to begin their campaign, taking two of three from then No. 17 UC Santa Barbara at Jim Perry Stadium. Campbell hit .225 as a team against the Gauchos while the pitching unit put together an 8.00 ERA with 24 strikeouts and 26 walks in 27.0 innings. Grant Knipp boasts a team-best .667 batting average with three runs scored, a double and a home run.
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The Campbell Series
East Carolina leads the series with Campbell by a 73-30 margin. The Camels won all three matchups in 2023 by a single run after the Pirates swept both encounters in 2022. The teams have split the last 10 meetings.
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Pirates Tabbed AAC Preseason Favorites
After capturing its fourth-straight American Athletic Conference regular season title in 2023, East Carolina has unanimously topped the 2024 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. Junior RHP Trey Yesavage, who earned Second Team All-America accolades from four publications and organizations (Baseball America, D1Baseball, NCBWA, Perfect Game) as a sophomore, was named the2024 AAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year, joining the likes of Evan Kruczynski (2017), Jake Kuchmaner (2020), Carson Whisenhunt (2022) and Carter Spivey (2023). Yesavage, along with sophomore RHP Zach Root, senior relief pitcher Danny Beal, senior catcher Justin Wilcoxen, senior first baseman Carter Cunningham and junior outfielder Jacob Jenkins-Cowart, were all tabbed to the Preseason All-Conference Team. 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.
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Individual Notables
Head Coach Cliff Godwin: Owns 354 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.
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Joey Berini: Has started all three games at shortstop ... Posted a hit in each contest of the Rider series ... Drove in a run in Saturday's 7-0 victory over the Broncs.
Bristol Carter: Made his collegiate debut in the season opener ... Posted a pair of hits, including a double, and two runs scored in the 16-2 victory over Rider.
Cam Clonch: Started at first base in the Rider series finale, finishing the contest with three RBI via a three-run home run ... Went 2-for-2 in the season-opening 16-2 victory.
Carter Cunningham: Has started two games at first base and the other at left field ... Went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI in the season-opening 16-2 win over Rider ... Notched another pair of hits and RBI in Saturday's contest, including his first home run of the campaign.
Jake Hunter: Collected his first win of the season on the mound Sunday in East Carolina's 7-0 victory over Rider, tossing five scoreless innings and allowing just one hit while striking out six batters.
Jacob Jenkins-Cowart: Has started all three games at right field ... Named the AAC Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Feb. 19 ... Hit .500 (6-for-12) with six runs scored, five RBI, three doubles, two home runs and a pair of stolen bases in the Rider series.
Ryley Johnson: Has started all three games at center field ... Scored two runs and notched an RBI in the season-opening 16-2 win over Rider ... Leads the club with three stolen bases.
Luke Nowak: Has started two games in left field and one at the designated hitter position ... Notched a hit in the first two games of the Rider series and drove in a run in the season-opening 16-2 win.
Zach Root: Collected his first win of the season on the mound Saturday in East Carolina's 7-0 victory over Rider, tossing 4.2 scoreless innings and notching a career-high seven strikeouts.
Jacob Starling: Has started all three games at second base ... Posted three hits, five runs scored, three RBI and two home runs in the Rider series ... Went yard both Saturday and Sunday as the Pirates knocked off the Broncs 7-0 in both contests.
Justin Wilcoxen: Has started two games at catcher and one at designated hitter ... Posted a hit and run scored in both games Friday and Saturday of the Rider series ... Threw out his first runner of the season in Sunday's series finale.
Dixon Williams: Has started all three games at third base ... Hit .375 (3-for-8) during the Rider series while scoring three runs and compiling four RBI ... Has drawn five walks against no strikeouts ... Drove in a pair of runs in the season-opening 16-2 victory.
Trey Yesavage: Collected his first win of the season on the mound in Friday's opener, tossing four innings and allowing just one earned run on one hit with eight strikeouts and two walks.
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Looking Ahead
East Carolina travels to Chapel Hill Friday (Feb. 23) to kick off a three game non-conference series with No. 15 North Carolina. First pitch from Boshamer Stadium is scheduled for 4 p.m.
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