Friday, May 8
Greenville, N.C.
6:00 P.M.
East Carolina University
vs
Rice
Pirates Welcome Rice for Final Home Conference Series
May 07, 2026 | Baseball
| Game 50-52: Rice Owls (29-20, 11-10 American) at East Carolina Pirates (29-19-1, 13-8 American)Â | |
| Coverage | May 8: 6:00 p.m. EST \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch May 9: 4:00 p.m. EST \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch May 10: 1:00 p.m. EST \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch Stream: ESPN+ (Patrick Johnson and Mike Mullis) Radio: 94.3 The Game (Dylan Johnson and Dr. Gary Overton) |
| Location: | Greenville, North Carolina | Lewis Field at Clark LeClair Stadium |
| Official Websites: | East Carolina | Rice |
| Game Notes: | East Carolina | Rice |
| Statistics: | East Carolina | Rice |
| Baseball Central: | NCAA Baseball | College Scoreboard | Weekly Rankings | National Stat Leaders |
| Social Media: | ECUBaseball (Twitter) | ecu_baseball (Instagram) | East Carolina Baseball (Facebook) |
GREENVILLE, N.C. -Â The East Carolina Pirates (29-19-1, 13-8) set their sights on the weekend after a midweek for their last home conference weekend, hosting the Rice Owls (29-20, 11-10 American). Marking the last home weekend on the schedule, the Pirates will hold Senior Day on Saturday, honoring the graduating class that has helped shape Pirate Baseball.Â
PROBABLE WEEKEND STARTERS
Friday, May 8: #7 LHP Ryan Towers vs. #23 RHP Tanner WigginsÂ
Saturday, May 9: #18 LHP Ethan Norby vs. #17 Ethan SandersÂ
Sunday, May 10: TBA vs. #25 RHP Ryland UrbanczykÂ
TOWERS CONFERENCE POTW
Ryan Towers led the charge for the Pirates this weekend, so much so that his performance solidified him American Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week (5/4), sharing the honor with Charlotte pitcher Ryan Combs.Â
In his 10th start of the season, he delivered a career-best performance, tossing 7.0 shutout innings to surpass his previous high of 6.0 innings set in March 2024 at Loyola Marymount. The senior left-hander earned the win while matching his career high with 10 strikeouts, allowing just three hits and one walk over 27 batters faced without surrendering a run. He also set a new personal best with 105 pitches in the longest outing of his collegiate career. Towers lowered his season ERA to 3.68 and improved to 5-0 on the year, totaling 36.2 innings pitched with 29 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .229 batting average.Â
TOUCHING BASE
Jack Herring is currently on a 48-game on-base streak for the Pirates, marking being one of 18 Pirates to have reached base in at least 30 games since 1998. Herring has been able to reach base safely in every game he has started this season, with 48.
Herring currently stands second in program history for longest on-base streak since 1998, just recently passing Ryan Wood over the weekend at 46, who held the longest on-base streak set back in 2008. Conor Norby took the crown in the 2021 season, now holding the longest on-base streak at 56.Â
NORBY BY NUMBERS
Ethan Norby has become a household name to Pirate Nation and has proved to be a solid pitcher throughout his three seasons in the Purple and Gold. The Junior has put up the numbers and is now 10th in program history in career strikeouts with 270 in his 212.0 innings of work. Â
In the 2026 season, Norby has five wins on the year, having 88 strikeouts in 299 batters faced. Norby currently leads the conference in strikeouts, as well as ranking 25th nationally.Â
BURRESS SETTING THE BAR
Braden Burress was recently named in the D1Baseball Week 12 Top 50 second basemen in the nation. Burress is ranked 11th nationally among Power 4 schools but second among mid-majors. Burress has 34 starts as the Pirates' second baseman in the 2026 season, having a .979 fielding percentage with 82 putouts and 58 assists. Â
Offensively, Burress has a .351 batting average, starting all 49 games so far. The leadoff hitter has 55 runs on 67 hits, totaling 26 RBI and 32 walks for the Pirates, marking a .472 on-base percentage.Â
CLOSING IN ON CONFERENCE
With two conference series left before the American Conference Tournament kicks off, the standings are changing rapidly, with less time until official seeding is decided. UTSA marked its first conference sweep of the season over Wichita State, giving itself a comfortable two-game lead over the Pirates. East Carolina holds a steady second with a record of 13-8, with UAB close behind with a 12-9 record. Â
Rice stands alone for fourth, but the conference gets closer after that, with three teams standing tied for fifth at 10-11(Wichita State, Florida Atlantic, and Memphis), and finally, having another three-way tie for eighth with an 8-13 record (Charlotte, South Florida, and Tulane).Â
SENIOR DAY
On Saturday, May 8, the East Carolina Pirates will hold a pre-game ceremony for the Pirates who will be graduating this spring. The ceremony will highlight the academic efforts of the graduating class, as well as Rice's seniors who will also be graduating in the spring.Â
PIRATES BEING HONORED
Dawson NealÂ
Ryan TowersÂ
Gavin MarleyÂ
Jeff SabaterÂ
Alex BoucheÂ
Parker ByrdÂ
Frank CicconeÂ
Nick MoranÂ
Joseph WebbÂ
Jack HerringÂ
RICE VS. ECU HISTORY
Rice has an overall record of 17-24 against East Carolina, dating back to 2006. The Pirates and the Owls crossed paths in Conference USA from 2005 until the Pirates left for the American in July of 2014. Since Rice's joining the American in July of 2023, ECU has swept the Owls both home and away in conference play, and has defeated Rice twice in Clearwater at the 2024 conference tournament. Â
The last time the Pirates lost a series to the Owls was in 2016, in a non-conference series in Houston, where the Pirates came out early to win the Friday matchup but were unable to secure the series, losing the last two games.Â
ABOUT RICE
The Rice Owls are currently 29-20 overall this season, holding an 11-10 conference record. The Owls hit big over the weekend, having their second conference sweep of the season, sweeping a first-place contender, UAB, in Houston. With the sweep, Rice is on a four-game win streak, having also beaten Lamar in its midweek game prior to the conference series. The Owls have a 11-9 away record, compared to their 17-10 home record. Â
Paul Smith helps the Owls offensively, leading the team in RBI (42), home runs (11), total bases (93), walks (32) and slugging percentage (.974). Â
Their Sunday starter, Ryland Urbanczyk, leads the pitching staff with an ERA of 2.86. Having 50.1 innings pitched, totaling 31 strikeouts, 38 hits, giving up 39 hits, 17 runs and 29 walks.Â
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