No. 11 ECU Travels To Liberty For Weekend Series

Games 12-14: No. 11 East Carolina at Liberty
Coverage	March 8: 4:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch March 9: 2:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch March 10: 1:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch Stream: ESPN+ Radio: 94.3 The Game (Scott Rogers and Dr. Gary Overton)
Location:	Lynchburg, Va. \| Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium
Official Websites:	East Carolina \| Liberty
Game Notes:	East Carolina \| Liberty
Statistics:	East Carolina \| Liberty
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GREENVILLE, N.C. – No. 11 East Carolina resumes play this weekend with a three game non-conference series at Liberty. The Pirates and Flames begin the set Friday at 4 p.m., reconvene Saturday at 2 p.m. and close things out Sunday at 1 p.m.

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

ECU (7-4) picked up two wins last weekend at the 21st annual Keith LeClair Classic in Greenville, knocking off Purdue 7-1 Friday and Cal State Fullerton 2-1 in 11 innings Saturday before dropping a closely contested 11-9 decision to Southeastern Louisiana Sunday to end the event.

Based on a strong early-season schedule that has seen ECU play eight games against teams that qualified for a regional in 2023, the Pirates checked in at No. 36 in the first iteration of the NCAA RPI rankings and own three wins over current top-100 clubs. East Carolina looks to notch its first true road win of the campaign after a trio of one-run losses at Campbell, North Carolina and Old Dominion.

Carter Cunningham has been not only one of the best hitters in the American Athletic Conference but also the nation thus far. He paces the AAC circuit in batting average (.489), hits (22), RBI (16) and total bases (42) while slotting fifth nationally in hits per game (2.00), 18th in batting average and hits, 21st in total bases and 28th in slugging percentage.

Collectively, the Pirates are batting .302 with 19 doubles, two triples and 16 home runs as well as 46 walks drawn and 14 stolen bases. The pitching staff sports a 3.57 earned run average with 131 strikeouts against 36 walks in 98.1 innings of work. ECU sits among the NCAA Division I leaders in WHIP (3rd/1.02), hits allowed per nine innings (6th/5.86), strikeout to walk ratio (7th/3.64), fielding percentage (8th/.987) and pitching strikeouts per nine innings (10th/12.0).

Projected Weekend Pitching Matchups
Friday: RHP Trey Yesavage (2-0, 1.00 ERA, 18.0 IP) vs. RHP Cole Hertzler (1-1, 4.66 ERA, 9.2 IP)
Saturday: LHP Zach Root (2-0, 0.48 ERA, 18.2 IP) vs. LHP Nick Moran (0-1, 6.75 ERA, 8.0 IP)
Sunday: RHP Jake Hunter (1-1, 3.38 ERA, 13.1 IP) vs. LHP Garrett Horn (2-0, 2.87 ERA, 15.2 IP)

About Liberty
The Flames (5-7) dropped a midweek bout at the College of Charleston Tuesday by an 8-2 score and look to snap a four-game skid that also includes a sweep at the hands of nationally-ranked Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C. Aidan Sweatt paces the offensive efforts with a .348 batting average while Cam Foster leads the club in RBI (12) and is one of four Liberty players with two home runs to their credit. The Flames are batting .250 as a team with 28 doubles, two triples and 12 home runs. Pitching wise, Liberty's staff sports a 5.54 ERA with 111 strikeouts and 71 walks in 105.2 innings.

The Liberty Series
East Carolina leads the all-time series with Liberty by an 11-5 margin. The teams met for a non-conference series last season that resulted in a Pirate sweep by scores of 7-2, 10-2 and 13-1. ECU has encountered the Flames just once in Lynchburg - a 5-0 setback on April 29, 2015.

Individual Notables
Head Coach Cliff Godwin: Owns 358 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: Has started all 11 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 four 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.
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 ... Drew a walk at Campbell ... Drove in a run in the 10-9 series-clinching win over then No. 15 North Carolina.
Carter Cunningham: Named the AAC Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Feb. 26 ... Currently owns an 11-game hitting streak ... Leads the American Athletic Conference in batting average, slugging percentage, hits, RBI and total bases ... Has started nine games at first base and two at left field ... Paces the club with six multi-RBI performances and is tied for the lead in in multi-hit efforts (seven) ... 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.
Jackson DiLorenzo: Has surrendered just two hits and one earned run over five 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 11 games at right field ... Leads the club in multi-hit performances (seven) 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
Ryley Johnson: Has started all 11 games at center field and has hit leadoff in every contest ... Paces the club with six stolen bases in seven attempts ... Has registered two hits in three-straight games ... 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 10 batters in 5.2 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 club in strikeouts (25) ... Tied with Danny Beal for the team lead in appearances (six) ... Notched a career-high seven strikeouts in three innings at Campbell before tallying seven more in four scoreless innings versus Purdue.
Luke Nowak: Has started five games in left field and three 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 11 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.
Justin Wilcoxen: Has started eight games at catcher and two 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 ... Logged three hits, three runs scored, two RBI and two home runs versus Southeastern Louisiana - his first career multi-home run effort.
Dixon Williams: Has started all 11 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.

Looking Ahead: East Carolina makes the trek south to Wilmington Tuesday, March 12, for a non-conference tilt at UNCW. First pitch in the Port City is slated for 6 p.m.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Danny Beal

Joey Berini

Bristol Carter

Cam Clonch

Carter Cunningham

Jackson DiLorenzo

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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