No. 11 ECU Hosts Columbia For Weekend Series

Games 16-18: Columbia at No. 11 East Carolina
Coverage	March 15th: 6:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch March 16th: 4:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch March 17th: 11:30 a.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch Stream: ESPN+ Radio: 94.3 The Game (Scott Rogers and Dr. Gary Overton)
Location:	Greenville, N.C. \| Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium
Official Websites:	East Carolina \| Columbia
Game Notes:	East Carolina \| Columbia
Statistics:	East Carolina \| Columbia
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Social Media:	ECUBaseball (Twitter) \| ecu_baseball (Instagram) \| East Carolina Baseball (Facebook)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Armed with a four-game winning streak, No. 11 East Carolina returns home this weekend for a three-game series versus Ivy League member Columbia. The teams will begin the set Friday at 6 p.m., reconvene Saturday at 4 p.m. and close things out Sunday at 11:30 a.m.

As always, Scott Rogers and Dr. Gary Overton will handle the radio broadcast on 94.3 The Game. All three contests will also stream live via ESPN+.

The Pirates (11-4) followed up last weekend's road sweep of Liberty with an 8-7 10-inning win at UNCW Tuesday. Justin Wilcoxen registered a career high-matching four hits while Aaron Groller tossed the final 1.1 frames without surrendering a run to collect his first victory of the campaign. ECU's bullpen continued its recent success by limiting the Seahawks to just one earned run while not walking a batter and striking out 11 in the final 6.2 innings.

With the start of American Athletic Conference play looming next weekend in San Antonio, East Carolina paces the circuit in both earned run average (3.72) and fielding percentage (.983) while slotting third in batting average (.294). Nationally, the Pirates rank fifth in WHIP (1.09), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.66) and hits allowed per nine innings (6.45) as well as eighth in pitching strikeouts per nine innings (12.2), 11th in fielding percentage and 24th in ERA.

Individually, Carter Cunningham enters the weekend on a 15-game hitting streak and leads The American in batting average (.468), hits (29), runs scored (22) and OPS (1.344). He also ranks among the national leaders in hits per game (4th/1.93), hits (12th) and batting average (17th). ECU's Friday starter Trey Yesavage has also put up some lofty numbers, topping the league in opposing batting average (.122) and strikeouts (39) while ranking eighth nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (3.75), ninth in both WHIP (0.71) and strikeouts as well as 26th in ERA (1.12). In the bullpen, Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman checks in at third in the country in strikeouts per nine innings (18.85).

East Carolina has enjoyed success inside the friendly confines of Clark-LeClair Stadium thus far in 2024, rolling up a 6-1 record with wins over Rider (three), then No. 15 North Carolina, Purdue and Cal State Fullerton.

Projected Pitching Matchups
Friday: RHP Trey Yesavage (3-0, 1.12 ERA, 24.0 IP) vs. RHP Derek Yoo (1-0, 6.00 ERA, 9.0 IP)
Saturday: LHP Zach Root (2-0, 1.52 ERA, 23.2 IP) vs. RHP Joe Sheets (0-2, 17.28 ERA, 8.1 IP)
Sunday: TBA vs. TBA

About Columbia
The Lions (3-8) head to Greenville off a 14-9 midweek loss at Santa Clara Tuesday. Columbia is hitting .280 as a team with 27 doubles, 19 home runs, 40 walks drawn and five stolen bases. Jack Cooper is an offensive sparkplug, leading the squad in batting average (.452), hits (19), home runs (five) and RBI (18). The pitching staff has experienced its struggles so far, sporting a 12.03 ERA with 76 strikeouts and 94 walks in 92.0 innings. The Lions also check in with a .947 fielding percentage.

The Columbia Series
East Carolina has encountered Columbia twice on the diamond, most recently in 2015 at the NCAA Coral Gables Regional where the Lions won a 6-3 decision. The Pirates also met Columbia at the 2008 NCAA Conway Regional, knocking off the Lions 9-0 on the way to an appearance in the regional finals.

Individual Notables
Head Coach Cliff Godwin: Owns 362 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.

Danny Beal: Tied with Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman for the team lead in appearances (nine) ... Tossed 3.2 scoreless innings and surrendered just one hit while racking up four strikeouts in the Liberty series, collecting his first win and second save of the campaign Saturday and Sunday respectively.
Joey Berini: Has started all 15 games at shortstop ... Posted a hit in each contest of the Rider series ... Drove in a run in the 7-0 win over Rider (Feb. 17).
Bristol Carter: Made his collegiate debut in the season opener ... Has started eight games in left field ... Posted a pair of hits, including a double, and two runs scored in the 16-2 victory over Rider ... Scored a run at Campbell ... Provided the walkoff single in the bottom of the ninth in ECU's 10-9 win over then No. 15 North Carolina that clinched the series in front of a record Clark-LeClair Stadium crowd of 6,017 ... Went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a double, a triple and an RBI in the series opener at Liberty.
Carter Cunningham: Named the AAC Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Feb. 26 ... Currently owns a 15-game hitting streak ... Leads the American Athletic Conference in batting average, runs scored, hits and OPS ... Has started 13 games at first base and two at left field ... Paces the club with seven multi-RBI performances and slots second in in multi-hit efforts (nine) ... 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 the Saturday Rider contest, including his first home run of the campaign ... Tallied a career-high four hits in the 7-4 win over then No. 15 North Carolina in Fayetteville ... Went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, four RBI and two home runs versus Southeastern Louisiana ... Collected a career-high five RBI in the series opener at Liberty ... Recorded two hits and scored three runs in the victory at UNCW.
Jackson DiLorenzo: Has surrendered just two hits and one earned run over 5.2 innings out of the bullpen ... Fanned a career-high three batters in 2.0 innings at Old Dominion.
Jake Hunter: Collected his first win of the season on the mound in East Carolina's 7-0 victory over Rider, tossing five scoreless innings and allowing just one hit while striking out six batters ... Tossed 5.1 solid frames in a no decision against then No. 15 North Carolina, surrendering just one run on one hit with six strikeouts.
Jacob Jenkins-Cowart: Has started all 15 games at right field ... Has recorded multi-hit efforts in four of his last five games ... Leads the club in multi-hit performances (10) and is second in multi-RBI efforts (five) ... 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 ... Posted at least two hits in every game of the series with then No. 15 North Carolina, rapping out three hits and driving in two runs in Sunday's 10-9 walkoff victory ... Went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, three RBI and a home run at Old Dominion ... Logged three hits and drove in three runs against Southeastern Louisiana ... Collected four hits and three runs scored in the series at Liberty.
Ryley Johnson: Has started all 15 games at center field and has hit leadoff in every contest ... Paces the club with seven stolen bases in nine attempts ... Scored two runs and notched an RBI in the season-opening 16-2 win over Rider ... Swiped a pair of bags and drew two walks at Campbell ... Tallied a pair of multi-hit efforts in the series with then No. 15 North Carolina.
Chris Kahler: Has fanned 14 batters in 10.1 innings of work ... Made his first start in an East Carolina uniform at Campbell, registering three strikeouts in 2.1 innings.
Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman: Slots second on the team in strikeouts (37) ... Tied with Danny Beal for the team lead in appearances (nine) ... Notched a career-high seven strikeouts in three innings at Campbell before tallying seven more in four scoreless innings versus Purdue ... Logged 3.1 scoreless frames in the Liberty series, racking up seven strikeouts against one walk and earning his first save of the campaign in the weekend finale ... Recorded five strikeouts in two innings of work at UNCW.
Luke Nowak: Has started five games in left field and four 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 ... Drew a pair of walks at Campbell ... Clubbed his first career home run in the series finale versus then No. 15 North Carolina while adding two runs scored and a pair of RBI.
Zach Root: Named the AAC Pitcher of the Week for the first time in his career on Feb. 26 ... 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 seven strikeouts ... Was masterful in the middle contest of the series with then No. 15 North Carolina, throwing a career-best seven scoreless innings while matching his career high in strikeouts (seven) against no walks ... Turned in another quality start against Cal State Fullerton, surrendering just one run over seven innings while striking out a career-high 10 batters against one walk.
Jacob Starling: Has started all 15 games at second base ... Posted three hits, five runs scored, three RBI and two home runs in the Rider series ... Drove in a run and drew two walks at Campbell ... Notched a career-high four hits in the 7-4 win over then No. 15 North Carolina in Fayetteville ... Logged three RBI in the series finale at Liberty ... Went 2-for-3 with two runs scored at UNCW.
Justin Wilcoxen: Has started 11 games at catcher and three at designated hitter ... Threw out his first runner of the season in the series finale with the Broncs ... Notched a pair of hits and drove in a run at Campbell ... Tallied two hits and an RBI in the 7-4 win over then No. 15 North Carolina in Fayetteville ... Registered three hits, three runs scored, two RBI and two home runs versus Southeastern Louisiana - his first career multi-home run effort ... Tied his career high with four hits at UNCW.
Dixon Williams: Has started 14 games at third base ... Hit .375 (3-for-8) during the Rider series while scoring three runs and compiling four RBI ... Has drawn a team-best nine walks ... Drove in a pair of runs in the season-opening 16-2 victory ... Notched two hits and scored two runs at Campbell ... Clubbed his first career home run against Purdue.
Trey Yesavage: Collected his first win of the season on the mound in the season opener, tossing four innings and allowing just one earned run on one hit with eight strikeouts and two walks ... Was dominant in the series opener at then No. 15 North Carolina, giving up just one earned run and striking out 11 batters against one walk in six innings pitched ... Went a career-long eight scoreless innings in the win over Purdue, fanning 11 hitters and scattering two hits .. Struck out nine over six innings while allowing just one run in the series opener at Liberty.

Looking Ahead: East Carolina visits in-state foe Elon Tuesday, March 19, for a non-conference matchup. First pitch at Latham Park is scheduled for 4 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Danny Beal

Joey Berini

Bristol Carter

Carter Cunningham

Jackson DiLorenzo

Aaron Groller

Jake Hunter

Jacob Jenkins-Cowart

Ryley Johnson

Chris Kahler

Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman

Luke Nowak

Jacob Starling

Justin Wilcoxen

Dixon Williams

Trey Yesavage

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